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A WITCH 


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OF THE 


NINETEENTH CENTURY, 






BY. 


W. P. PHELON, M. D., 


Author of ‘‘Future Rulers of America,” “Her- 
metic Teachings,” “Three Sevens,” Etc. 



-CvAf. 0i ; CT/U'n 

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\"j/'N 321894 . 

Chicago, III. ' v, a s HU ' / 

The Hermetic Publishing Company. ; T" . C ’> 

1893. 2 I 6 j 

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Copyrighted, all rights reserved, 
By W. P. Phelon, M. D. 

1893 . 





Chicago: 

A. L. F'YF'E, PRINTER, 334 DEARBORN §1*. 
1893. 





A WITCH of the 19th CENTURY, 



CHAPTER I. 

* T is early in the fifties. A traveler 
on the west coast of England, in 
passing through one of the little vil- 
lages that are ever dodging out of 
the distance, could have seen in the 
month of June this picture: A 
thatched cottage, in all its lowliness 
really a thing of beauty to the artistic eye. 
It stands a little apart, evidently a freeholding, 
the property of some honest yeoman, of the 
class whose brain and brawn have raised up the 
England of to-day out of the darkness of 
savagery. It is set back quite a little distance 
from* the street, as if hiding in sweet retire- 
ment, like a coy maiden from her lover. Its 
brown, thatched roof overhangs on either side. 
Here the sparrows have built their nests, and 
now, busied in the care of their young, twitter 
all day long. Here are also visible the green 
patches of the scientifically named plant sem- 


4 


A WITCH OF THE 


pervivium, but endeared to every old-fashioned 
English heart a^i “hen and chickens.” Under 
its motherly, strong leaves, it protects the ten- 
der little ones from harm. There is also a su- 
perstition attached to this plant that its 
presence is a protection from lightning-stroke. 

Higher up, from out the thatch peep the 
gabled windows, with their numerous diamond- 
shaped window-panes. The whole window 
swings back at will, letting in the perfumed 
air, sweet with the breath of many flowers, 
while up over the brick walls in graceful riv- 
alry clamber from the lap of mother earth to 
the sunshine the woodbine and the rose, until 
•breathless in great masses of fragrant color, 
they lie on the very peak of the thatch. The 
gabled end toward the street has the front en- 
trance over it; facing toward the west is a 
roomy, shady porch, whose vine-embowered 
beauty conceals from the casual passer the 
steps on either side, brown with age, well-worn 
with the imprint of generations of little feet 
as they clambered up and down to get into 
grandpa’s lap. Many and many are the tales 
of love that have been breathed forth and part- 
ings sighed in that quiet spot. None have 
been witnessed, however, save by the nightin- 
gale in the hedge, or the bees, whose ceaseless 


NINETEENTH CENTUBY. 


hum never ends during the sunny hours. All 
the nooks, corners and hiding places, and the 
windows, full of fresh, well tended plants, are 
mute witnesses of tender, watchful care from 
the loving hands who occupy that quiet home. 

The traveler is thirsty, and rakes the liberty 
to walk up the graveled path and ask a drink 
of water from the iron-bound bucket attached 
to the great sweep close to the back door. 
Open windows and doors show the roomy 
kitchen, with clean, white, stone floor, on one 
side the fireplace, with the backlog of the 
morning fire still glowing within it. As the 
sunshine pours in, it is reflected back in a thou- 
sand lights from the bright utensils on the 
wall. Near the fireplace are the ancient, high- 
backed settles, so protecting to their occupants 
from draughts, and a favorite resort of the 
family when the work of a winter’s day is 
done. The old eight-day clock upon the stairs, 
with its moon-faced dial, ticks audibly 
throughout the whole house. The only part 
of the cottage in which darkness and the 
silence of death reigns supreme is the parlor, 
dedicated to Christmas, weddings, christenings 
and the last loving tribute we can offer to the 
spirit called to the home we cannot see. This 
sanctuary of the deepest emotions is suitably 


A WITCH OF THE 


furnished with the most lugubrious and un- 
comfortable furniture possible. 

Back of the house is a thrifty orchard of ap- 
ple, pear and plum trees, which give the most 
ample promise that in due time their spreading 
branches will droop with a heavy burden of 
ripening fruit. Out by the well stands a ma- 
jestic elm, lifting its giant head heavenward. 
From out its leafy covert the song of the early 
bird greets the occupants of the cottage. Then 
there are beds of the old-fashioned flowers our 
grandmothers loved so well — London-pride, 
sweet-lavender, rosemary, southernwood, eglan- 
tine and myrtle, and hints that the early spring 
had brought gifts of violet and snowdrop. In 
the midst of these was an arbor, suggesting 
cozy teas under the leafy shelter of the green 
billows of jessamine, clematis and roses. 

This tidy homestead had been the abiding 
place of four generations. Here they had been 
born, grew up and passed hence, leaving pos- 
session to the next of kin : and now he who was 
the last owner in fee was sitting in the roomy 
porch with his “ glide” wife, resting from the 
toils of the day. 

They had been a twelve month married. 
The father had within that time passed on his 
way, leaving the son alone, so far as any living 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


relative was concerned. The wife was an 
orphan when she married, so there was little 
except warm friendships that held them to 
English soil. The man stretched upon the 
broad settle, was smoking; the woman, also 
resting after the worn an ly fashion, was knit- 
ting as she slowly rocked in a low. high-backed 
rocker. Woman is tireless in behalf of those 
she loves; evening, morning, noon or night? 
constant as the needle to the pole turns ever 
her thought to her loved ones and their best 
good. 

The man was quiet, and evidently thinking 
of some more than usually serious matter. 
The faces of both told even the most casual ob- 
server that they could think. 

“Thomas,” said the wife, “what troubles 
you? It is not often that you are so long 
quiet.” 

“Nothing troubles, lass; but old man Wil- 
liams had a letter from his son John, he that 
went out to America, you know the day. He 
says that one can get a freehold of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres almost for the clearing 
of it.” 

“Yes, and lose his scalp by some of the sav- 
ages, if he does not mind,” was the quick re- 
tort.” 


A WITCH OF THE 


8 

u But the savages are not everywhere, and 
sure, one could somewhere find some land where 
he could make a home for thee, and, please 
God, the lads and lasses; it is of their chance 
I’m thinking.” 

The wife looked up, a little wave of color 
mounting over the clear red and white of her 
complexion. She had not been so long mar- 
ried that the new had become entirely old. 

“I know, lad, they are not so crowded over 
there, and if you really desire to try a new 
country, I certainly will not hold back.” 

“Thou’rt a good wife, Jane, we’ll not make 
a leap in the dark, but I'll find out more about 

U ll 

The next and many following days were 
used to extend information of the El Dorado 
beyond the western waters, where it was possi- 
ble for a poor man to own the land he 
worked, for himself, he and his heirs forever. 
Satisfied at last of that, which at the first had 
borne itself into his mind, he made the few 
and simple preparations necessary, finding 
quick sale for his holding at a fair price, with 
all the personal property. Then ready for 
his departure, he and his good wife turned 
their faces toward the country whose hospit- 
able shores welcomed alike the righteous and 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


1 ) 


the unrighteous; their whole store of savings 
being a little less than four hundred pounds 
sterling. 

Standing upon the deck of the outgoing 
vessel, they looked back upon the cruel 
mother of a pugnacious, persistent offspring, 
and England had forever lost another portion 
of the sturdy Saxon which has made her 
what she is. 

There were no tears in the eyes of either, for 
why should they weep in leaving the scene of 
toil and the prospective bondage for their chil- 
dren, of moneyed caste, if perchance they 
might receive in exchange the birthright of 
every soul born into the world, “life, liberty 
and the pursuit of happiness?” 

Underneath the stolid appearance of both 
this man and woman was a finer perception 
than ordinary of the things which are not 
always recognized as of any consequence, 
even by the more cultured. The seen and 
tangible has very little use for the unseen. 
They were both psychics covered over with 
the crust of circumstances, and only waiting 
the touch of unseen fingers to develop. 

The voyage was made with the usual events, 
nothing noteworthy occurring. As Mr. Wil- 
liams’ son, the friend of the Holmes’, was 


10 A WITCH OF THE 

located near the Chicago settlement, and land 
could be, at that time, bought cheaply in 
Cook county, they, too, had fixed their desti- 
nation there. Over the then scarcely trav- 
eled routes, so soon to become the highways 
for the feet of untold millions, they finally 
reached their destination in the fall of 1853. 

Through the kind offices of his old friend, 
a neighboring quarter-section could be had at 
a reasonable price. Before the cold weather 
set in a three-roomed frame house added its 
attractions to the increasing value of the 
neighborhood. 

Could not these two pioneers into a new 
country be pardoned a little pride in their 
accomplishment as they surveyed the work 
which had grown so successfully and con- 
tinuously under their hands? 

It was their own one hundred and sixty 
acres of arable land, all paid for, not to men- 
tion the ten acres of timber over on the Des- 
plaines river, which was to furnish fuel for 
the first winter and work for Thomas during 
the cold weather, while waiting and preparing 
for the coming of the seed-time. 

Industrious, thrifty and healthy, with men- 
tal powers above the average, it was not 
strange that all nature’s forces waited on them 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 11 

but to serve. In the language of their neigh- 
bors, they seemed to have a patent right on 
good luck; but they were so genial, so gen- 
uinely kind to all, that envy did not darken 
their living. Mr. Holmes was a lineal de- 
scendant from a younger brother of a family 
of renown, but the branch long ago cut off 
from the parent stem had dried up and with- 
ered, and as the rest of the family had been 
remarkably strong and prolific, the chances 
for the minor branches to receive profit or 
benefit from their connection seemed very 
slim indeed. Nor had Thomas Holmes ever 
indulged in any day dreams. Honest in pur- 
pose, strong in integrity and persistent in pur- 
pose, it was enough for him to be allowed to 
carve out a destiny for himself and wife and 
the family which might be put in his keeping. 

Although brought up under the training 
of the Church of England, he was very liberal 
in his views, both in regard to this present 
and the future life; age and experience only 
broadened the field of his spiritual perception. 
This growth was stimulated by the constant 
promptings of the unseen intelligences 
which were constantly molding and guiding 
him to the crowning work of his life. 

For two years husband and wife toiled to 


12 


A WITCH OF THE 


lay deep and permanently the foundations of 
their home. Fortune smiled; everything 
they touched prospered. Whatever of disa- 
greeableness came to their neighbors they 
were not sharers. Whatever they had to sell 
was put opportunely upon the market, and 
brought the best prices. At length, there 
came to each, foreknowledge of an event de- 
sired by both. While we are waiting for the 
advent upon the mimic stage of life, of 
another actor, let us go into the room behind 
the scenes. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


18 


CHAPTER II. 

© NE night Thomas was awakened by his 
wife, who said she had had a wonderful 
vision, which she at once proceeded to 
relate to him; hut during the relation she did 
not seem like herself either in manner, voice or 
language; for like one entranced by the mar- 
velous beauty of what she saw, she went on as 
follows: 

“ Can you not see those peaks, crowned with 
an ineffable, glorious light, or the vast plains 
that lie between, over which are scattered 
forests and grassy meads and sparkling waters? 
All over as far as the eye can reach are beauty 
and harmony and peace. Tones of color rav- 
ishing to the eve, symphonies of melody that 
lift the soul into the highest vibrations possible, 
and a wonderful penetrating, subtle fragrance 
flood and permeate the whole being; ever } 7 
sense, every thought, is etherealized. The 
sense of enjoyment is intense; all the more 
because we feel sure there will be no reaction, 
no rebate demanded. No longer has the spirit 
to pay toll to the animal for imperfect service 
grudgingly rendered. This is the Summer- 


14 


A WITCH OF THE 


land, the land of beauty and joy and peace and 
accomplishment; the rest remaining for those 
who desire it. 

“Do you see those gates opening inward? 
Look! they are opening, and one enters who 
is evidently unfamiliar with her present sur- 
roundings, but though a stranger, she shows 
no signs of fear — on the contrary, joy spreads 
over her serene face. A form brilliant in 
purity approaches and greets her; a glad recog- 
nition lights up the whole face of the new- 
comer. 4 My daughter, oh, my daughter!’ The 
mother-love restrained for years breaks forth, 
a great torrent of gladness at this meeting so 
long anticipated by both; the one engaged in 
the pleasant duties of the higher life that 
brought no sting of disappointment at their 
completion, the other plodding along the didl 
round of earth’s monotony. Let us draw near; 
perhaps the daughter may answer a question 
or two. 

“Upon our approach the elder in Spirit life 
turns her fine face toward me, and, in answer 
to my query, says: 

“‘The gates are the entrance through the 
veil that separates the seen from the unseen; 
they swing but one way, and that is inward; 
those who go hence do not go this way; this 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


15 


is only for those who come into this state or 
condition; those who go hence have their 
method of exit; I will call for you a guide, if 
you desire to know that.’ 

“ ‘I should very much like to know, 1 I reply. 

“Her bright face for a moment grew almost 
stern, then as the shadow of the cloud passes 
over the meadows, so the sunniness came back 
to her face. 

“ ‘I have called, and he will come presently,’ 
she said. 

“ ’But I do not understand,’ I remarked. 

“A little laugh like the thrill of a bird’s song, 
and her clear tones went on again: 4 1 have 
been here only twenty years, so I know but 
just a little. I had all my earth training to 
unlearn after I came here. But dear mother, 
who could not help becoming a Spiritualist 
after I left her, understands more, and can 
begin in the first reader instead of in the 
alphabet. Oh, Marmie! I am so glad you 
have come.’ A caress and a joy in both faces 
which was indescribable, and the daughter con- 
tinued: ‘In the earth-life, you say thoughts 
are things, but you cannot see them, feel them, 
nor hear them until they are in some fashion 
clothed with physical drapery; so you do not 
get the full force of the meaning of the phrase. 


A WITCH OF THE 


1 (> 

But on this plane we can sense thought and 
nothing else. Even you, mortal and earth- 
bound, are not here in body, but in your 
thought, and when we seek to know of our 
friends still upon the earth, we do not seek the 
physical bodies, but only the thought bodies, 
which they have built as a model for them- 
selves to manifest upon in that plane. Here 
all is thought, we are the thought-forms of the 
One who is the Cause of All . 1 

“ ‘But what is this I see on every hand about 
us, this beauty of color and fragrance and 
form ? 1 I asked. 

“ ‘It is the prevailing harmonious condition 
of the plane of vibrations upon which you are 
now resting,’ she replied. ‘ Whatever you 
think of earnestly here becomes visible to you 
just as you think it; and as we all desire har- 
mony and peace, so it is. If we desire the 
presence of any acquaintance or friend, we 
think of them intently for a few minutes, then 
they come to us, drawn by our intense wish.’ 

“ ‘But where in space are we ? 1 I asked 
wonderingly. 

“Just then a form majestic, with a face full 
of power and knowledge, seemed to join our 
group out of the apparent nothingness. His 
coming was as when one comes to us in dreams 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


17 


without warning. He bowed gravely, and the 
spirit with whom I had been talking said: 

“ ‘I refer your question for answer to my 
teacher here, as also the other unanswered 
thoughts in your mind.’ 

u He smiled benignantly upon me, and laid 
his hand gently upon my head. Instantly 
a misty cloud seemed to lift, and I saw we were 
standing in the darkened chamber of death, 
where robed for burial lay the empty tenement 
but a short time since vacated by her whose 
entrance into Spirit-life I had witnessed. 

“ A faint sigh trembled on the air, formulat- 
ing the words: ‘Why did I not insist upon 
the cremation of my body? Had I been cer- 
tain that I should be held by it, so that travel 
would be impossible until it was consumed, 1 
should have insisted upon liberation at once. 1 
I recognized the voice of the mother. Looking 
to my friend, I asked: ‘Is this so? 1 

“ ‘Yes, 1 he replied; ‘you see the Summer- 
land is not a place, but simply a condition, just 
as different people in the same room may be 
very happy and very miserable at exactly the 
same moment of time. The condition of their 
own thought decides the matter for them. 
We do not go away to find heaven. Death 
simply puts us outside instead of inside the bolts 


18 


A WITCH OF THE 


and bars. But , 1 turning to me, \you seek the 
entrance into earth-life from the Summerland. 
Lay your hand in mine, and perhaps the vision 
will be given you. I must tell you, however, 
that souls seeking return from their own 
anxiety and the reflex action of the earth-life 
often change very much their own surround- 
ings. Do not be disappointed in seeing the 
chilling effect of the earth on the Summer- 
land . 1 

u So saying he extended his right hand and I 
placed mine within it. Hardly had I felt his 
warm clasp strongly close over it, when the 
cloudiness which had settled over me again 
cleared. 

“I saw inclining with a gentle slope away 
from where we stood a vast valley. Over this 
brooded a grayish light, as when .from the 
hidden sun its rays struggle through thick 
masses of vapor. But in this weird light there 
was no change, only the same awful monotony. 

“There were trees in the valley, and their 
foliage seemed but a bluish, flame-like exhala- 
tion shimmering in a phosphorescent light. 
Plants could also be distinguished. Their for- 
mation was strange, intermixed and interblended 
like the fanciful lines of a monogram, contain- 
ing all the parts of a species or family, as if the 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 19 

whole range of thought-change possible were 
here condensed or crystalized against the time 
of recall into manifestation on earth. Their 
blossoms appeared to be cut out of gems of 
most brilliant hue, leaves of emerald and topaz, 
calyxes of garnet, of amethyst or cbrysophras, 
daisies of diamonds, lotuses of most unimagina- 
able wonders, and in all and through all a sup- 
pression of fiery power and change, that even 
in this ghastly light, foretold how the desert 
upon which this crystalized thought should fall, 
would blossom like the vale of Cashmere. 

“ But through the whole length and breadth 
of this dreadful valley no song of bird, nor hum 
of bee, nor sound of any living thing pulsates 
within the dead, heavy silence, nor is there any 
wind even to shake the trees and plants. It is 
the silence which precedes by perpetual condi- 
tion, the re-creation of man upon the earth; 
which to the living, questioning man returns 
no answer to the query, ‘Whence come I ? 1 
This is the consummation of the absorption of 
all earthly experience; nothing of the earth is 
here, for within these bounds the spiritualized 
souls alone await return to an earth-life to 
which hoary ages have bound upon them. 

“ At the farther end, a great lake fills the 
whole space; no glad stream flowing down the 


20 


A WITCH OF THE 


mountain sides plunges madly into bounding, 
sounding water, but the whole is a solemn mass 
of white vapor, which, while in grave monotony 
it rolls over the feet of the mountains, wets 
neither them nor tlie base of promontories, nor 
the shores of the shining islands, around whom 
it is wound like a glittering scarf. 

“ 4 That sea,’ says my guide, 1 on its lower 
side, touches the earth.' 

44 But there is motion here, soundless motion. 
Forms flit across this ghostly lake of vapor. 
They resemble in formation the foamy sub- 
stance in which they are constantly rising and 
sinking. Along the dreary shores they also 
flit, nor have their surroundings aught of influ- 
ence or impression upon those pallid, waiting 
dreamers. Between a past and finished life, 
and the possibilities of a new earthly existence, 
they are dreaming, and planning, and hoping; 
comparing the last and only remembered with 
the coming next, before the word of the Inex- 
orable, ‘ Go and forget,’ shall bear them into 
the fierce struggle of planetary life once more. 
Whatsoever hidden springs of action are coiled 
within their Egos, they themselves know not. 

“ In dream-like change my guide and I are 
borne closer and closer, until I can see clearly, 
if anything wrought out of mist can be clear, 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 21 

the distinguishing features of these restless 
ghosts. To one in particular I am especially 
attracted. The sedateness of his features was 
almost of one who had finished his re-births. 
I thought: ‘Oh, if I could only speak to it ! 1 

“ ‘Thou mayest, 1 said my guide, answering 
my thought. ‘ It waits yet a little, but will 
gladly give thee thought-transference, for no 
speech is needed here.’ So approaching, the 
being saluted courteously and sadly, and then 
this discourse was borne in upon my soul, flu- 
ently and eloquently. 1 '’ 


22 


A WITCH OF THE 


CHAPTER III. 


N that portion of the maps of the earth’s 



surface named the Western Hemis- 


' phere can be found an immense island- 
studded sea, and an almost land-locked gulf. 
Into this gulf stretches a nearly perfect par- 
allelogram, the peninsula of Yucatan. 

“‘So long ago that history fades into the 
hoary mists of tradition, the gulf was an 
inland lake. Where the islands now show 
themselves amid the blue waters, a continent 
sunned itself in the light of blazing days. 

“ ‘ This continent was peopled by the Aryan 
race. Its latitude teemed with all needed 
conditions to make exotic life most desirable, 
whether such life was on the animal or vege- 
table plane. The population increased and 
multiplied until the whole broad land became 
one vast city. Temples and palaces, works 
of skill and art, abounded everywhere. These 
did not there represent the slow toil of human 
sweat and agony, of brute force tyranized 
into sulky compliance. Brilliant in design 
and bold in execution, they were the mani- 
festation of soul-power over elemental force. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


The worship of the one Grod was taught. To 
those who desired, training for the acquisi- 
tion of the most occult and mystic knowledge 
ever known to men was possible. 

“ ‘ They who had charge of these depart- 
ments as keepers of the keys and treasuries 
of knowledge were neither unaware nor re- 
gardless of the fact of other planes of exist- 
ence upon the earth. For thousands of years 
they strove earnestly to better all states of 
their fellowmen by imparting a knowledge of 
the truth. 

“ ‘ By the silent thought the whole people 
were lifted grade by grade as rapidly as they 
could assimilate the instructions which are 
of so much influence and assistance in the 
duties and pleasures of life. Just as fast as 
they could be educated to perceive these 
facts, they were advanced in the scale of 
existence. 

“ ‘ It is true of all peoples, nations, kindreds 
and tongues, that in proportion as the lower 
classes rise from a given starting point toward 
the light, the force generated by their action 
will lift those who are sensitive and fit still 
farther above them. It is better to be the 
wise men of a nation of philosophers than 
the learned of a race of cringing slaves. 


24 


A WITCH OF THE 


“‘It was not strange, therefore, that these of 
whom I speak should have held the mightiest 
secrets of the universe in their keeping. It 
was not strange that the trackless wastes of 
water in unknown seas became to them 
familiar paths, nor that the mysteries of the 
earth, of the air and of all nature were at 
their command. The archives of all ancient 
nations, carved in their books of stone, speak 
clearly and truly of them. In Egypt, in 
Assyria, in India, are found the same inscrip- 
tions, conveying the same knowledge, that is 
to-day locked up in the ruined cities covered 
by the forests of thousands of years in 
Yucatan. 

“ 4 The western lamp of knowledge was never 
lighted from the east. From the proud seagirt 
continent of Atlantis went forth, as from the 
sun, to all parts of the earth under the 
heavens, the illumination of truth and 
knowledge. 

44 4 The old Atlantians, going forth in their 
galleys hither and yon, so controlled the ele- 
ments by their knowledge of the hidden laws 
of nature that they had no need to wait for 
the moving of the winds nor tides. Like 
Christos, who, in the storm, stilled the waves 
and bade them be at peace, and immediately 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 25 

they were at the place whither they were going, 
so the Atlantians moved over the wide wilder- 
ness of waters on the earth, scattering the 
seeds of their knowledge along the shores 
they visited. These seeds fell into good 
ground in Egypt, Chaldea and India. 

“ ‘ It can be noted wherever the pressure of 
the ever recurring demands of the physical 
— that never yielding circle of necessity — was 
least on the matter over which the spirit 
sought to maintain domination, meanwhile 
sinking deeper and deeper into its illusions 
with the downward rush of the cycle, there 
the seeds of truth took root and grew most 
vigorously. At such points were more 
leisure, strength and purpose to bring forth, 
as fruit the knowledge of the unseen in its 
greatest perfection and abundance. Spirit 
domination is a tropical fruit reaching ma- 
ture perfection only in those countries where 
the bountiful earth ministers voluntarily, 
always anticipating man’s physical necessi- 
ties. Sun-cooked food does not stimulate 
groveling desires. 

u ‘ The dwellers in more rigorous latitudes, 
who, in spite of opposing force, still gain 
spiritual elevation for themselves, are richer 
in strength and force. This is the result of 


A WITCH OF THE 


26 

the discipline acquired in the overcoming of 
the natural obstacles of their environment. 
The harder the battle the more important the 
victory. So long as Atlantis obeyed the law 
that makes all men gods in wisdom, so long 
it prospered mightily. But there came at 
last a time when they who had the knowledge 
only in trust, permitted themselves to think, 
to wish and to plan for grasping the absolute 
control of the whole earth. In this they 
sought to climb into the seat and place of the 
Supreme. Beyond the earth lies only the uni- 
verse. The lesser is hut the result of the 
greater. 

“ ‘ The One denies no one knowledge. Who- 
ever seeks to take from it, its authority, its 
supremacy, thus attempting arrogation or ab- 
sorption into the Oneness in any other than 
the appointed ways which lie open to all 
created beings, shows a taint of grossness in- 
spiring the desire, surely provocative of swift 
destruction. They who had thus planned 
were powerful far beyond the conception of 
the mortal, holding at their option all the 
secrets of nature save one, that one embracing 
the infinite supremacy of the One. 

“‘These leaders had freely scattered knowl- 
edge abroad upon the earth. By self denial 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 27 

and long training they had attained, and yet 
at almost the supreme moment, dazzled by the 
brightness of the illumination, they looked 
once again toward self. From their memories 
faded out the unchanging law: 4 Thus far and 
no farther, shalt thou go.’ The ceaseless 
breaking of the waves of the mighty sea 
against the silent resistance of rock-bound 
coasts, ceased to utter its warning to dazed 
mentality. The on-coming day, beginning of 
the end to those who had forgotten the very 
life and essence of the One, was at hand. The 
proud city of Atlantis, city and continent one, 
sitting as a queen upon the throne of the 
waters, had, by arrogant presumption, filled 
full the cup of wrath, for which expiation 
must be made. They — masters of all the ele- 
ments and all lawful knowledge of the unseen 
— now sought the forbidden, as if the part 
should demand equality with the whole. Step 
by step they had reached the veil separating 
them from the whiteness of the Immediate 
Presence; and now, as the last fatal step, they 
had determined by the exercise of their most 
potent skill to rend the veil and come unher- 
alded and unsummoned before the face of It 
whom no man hath seen at any time. 

“ ‘Carefully were their preparations made, 


28 


A WITCH OF THE 


most accurately were the sacred computations 
wrought out to decide the auspicious hour. 
Panoplied with the consciousness of previous 
achievement, their call to the embattled hosts 
of the universe rang out along the astral cur- 
rents. Confidently the word of power was 
spoken in all the pride of human will. The 
expected accomplishment did not follow. To 
their amazed horror they discerned a new vibra- 
tion, a resultant of creative thought in its own 
defence. To this they had no key, and first 
bewildered, then terrified, they perceived that 
the immense force momentarily unbound by 
their own act, had destroyed the accurate 
balance and adjustment of nature’s laws. 
Utterly without resource, they waited for the 
outcome. 

“ ‘ Thus knowing the inner, behold the outer. 
The sun rises in its eastern splendor. The 
mighty millions who dwelt in palaces and tem- 
ples, in luxury and frugality, dream not of nor 
can they understand the word of the Omnipo- 
tent, already spoken and gone forth wliereunto 
it was sent. They awake to their life of ease 
and pleasure with the self-assurance that the 
thing existing hitherto will still continue to 
be. In their hearts they say: ‘Have we not 
compelling power and force ? Sufficient for the 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 29 

day is the evil thereof.’ They pass on, without 
concern, to their usual affairs. Clouds begin 
to interrupt the clearness of the sky. They 
deepen and darken. The uncontrollable, ele- 
mental storm of the tropics, after years of 
durance, has burst its prisoning fetters. The 
people are awed by the terrific intensity of the 
outburst, but comfort their hearts with the idea 
that it will pass on as it has hitherto done. 
They knew not that the sceptre had slipped 
from the hands of the former rulers, who, 
within the chambers of the Three, Five and 
Seven, in the great tower of the temple, now 
lie prone upon their faces, heroically awaiting 
the unrolling of the book of just judgment. 
The cyclone becomes a continuous storm of 
day after day. The rocking earth vibrates 
beneath their feet, and trembles with each new 
blast of the mighty forces of nature, wind- 
enveloped, drawn here by human will, and now 
uncontrolled. The waters of the sea invade 
the land. Lashed on by the fierce currents 
upon their surface, the tides seem to be mount- 
ing higher and higher. It is now known that 
it was the sinking of the land, and not the 
rising of the waters, which for ages has hid- 
den from investigation the abodes of the rich- 
est and most powerful nation ever dwelling 


30 


A WITCH OF THE 


upon the earth. Foot by foot all that had ever 
been given to us by the waters was again de- 
manded, and returned to its origin. The 
records of thousands of years were buried 
beneath the storm-tossed waters — buried but 
not destroyed. Only the mountain-tops and 
the highest plateaus, now known as islands, 
remained of all the vast continent. The in- 
land lake mingled its waters with the incoming 
torrent from the salty ocean, and a great gulf 
waters the southern shore of the country, where 
now live in peace and wonder, over the hidden 
past, the same reincarnated mighty race. A 
few scattered books, written in stone, were 
saved, and a wall invisible and impermeable, 
was built around the indestructible manuscript. 
Unseen the Infinite Power thus preserves use- 
ful knowledge until the time and times for the 
revealing shall have come. 

“ * Fear and dread for ages and ages after the 
awful cataclysm, detained within the boundaries 
of their own country, the feeble remnant of a 
people once so invincible and venturesome. The 
rest of the world passed on and forgot them.' 

“ Here the speaker paused. His whole form 
seemed to dilate, then his musical intonation 
commenced again, but now more slowly and 
with a mournful cadence: 


NINETEENTH CENTURY 


31 


44 4 The story of the light-bearer who fell 
from heaven is our story. The legend of the 
great flood is the true narrative of facts of 
whose awfulness only we have experience. We 
have been forbidden to return to earth until 
the impetus of our knowledge should in some 
manner have spent itself, lest recurring mem- 
ory tempt us to our own further pain. But 
thanks be to the Ruler of Men. I am again about 
to be permitted to pass out of this valley of 
shadows into the possibility of new experience, 
life and knowledge. None but he who has 
lived under the awful shadow can understand 
what it is to exist outside of the love-currents 
of the universe, enveloped in the separating 
displeasure of the Almighty. Such is the con- 
dition of those who seek selfish interest in pre- 
ference to the good and pleasure of others.’ 

44 As he said this he looked straight into my 
eyes. and smiled, oh! so kindly, and then he 
said: 

44 4 1 shall enter the earth-life on the fifth day 
of October, at 2 o’clock in the morning.’ 

44 When he said that, I felt as if his eyes 
went all through and through me — they just 
made me shiver — and then I woke up to find 
it was a dream, 

44 But,” and her dark eyes sparkled, 44 it did 


A WITCH OF THE 


:i2 

seem as real as you sitting there. What do 
you suppose he meant, Thomas, by coming 
into earth-life on the fifth day of October — 
that is almost a month yet? Do you suppose 
there is anything in it that means us?” 

Thomas laughed quietly at her eagerness. 
“I don’t know, lass; but if we may believe the 
wise ones, bigger things than that have hap- 
pened to as humble folks as we. There’s 
naught to do but wait. I have heard tell all 
things come to the waiter, and a good many 
things can happen in a month.” 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


33 


CHAPTER IV. 

A T was plain to Thomas from the 
V glimpses he had had of the invisible, that 
some event a little out of the ordinary 
was to honor him and his house. Angels 
have not stopped coming unawares to men, 
nor has man been left unbefriended and 
alone by those who can and do help him. 

While thus sure of something, it was only 
by the indefinite knowledge, and not by any- 
thing he had been taught — in fact, the bur- 
den of all teaching, and of his associates, had 
borne heavily against the facts which he 
knew as a certainty — knew as he was certain 
he was alive. This constant opposition had 
arrested speech on these matters. He had no 
mind to be made the object of laughing ridi- 
cule by those without either knowledge 
or sense on such lines of unfoldment; neither 
did he wish to be antagonized or argued with, 
so he said nothing; only to Jane, whom he 
knew was in full sympathy with him. Such 
books as they could afford were well-read 
aloud, and a weekly Chicago secular paper and 
an agricultural monthly were studied by both. 


A WITCH OF THE 


34 

One point had been fixed in the mind of 
each, and that was that one hundred and sixty 
acres properly and fully improved, would sup- 
port a family of eight in comfort and compara- 
tive luxury, if need be. To do this, however, 
fence-rows of weeds must cease to have stand- 
ing-ground. Thomas was often really pained 
at the wasteful methods of the farmers about 
him. 

It seemed to him that if an acre produced 
ten bushels of wheat, and by close cultivation 
could be made by a very little more labor to 
produce twenty, that it was better to concen- 
trate effort on smaller space than to increase 
labor and fatigue by diffusion over lialf-cared- 
for space, and wear one’s self out by stepping 
around, instead of arm-exercise in slaying 
weeds and stirring the surface. There is no 
slavery equal to land-bondage. 

This being a declaration of freedom, they 
lived up to it to the fullest extent. Their sur- 
plus which began to accumulate, they did not 
put into more acres, thus creating a millstone 
for their necks, but used it first for home im- 
provements. An artesian well came first, 
bringing the water from far below the blue 
clay, and rising twenty-five feet above the sur- 
face, poured into the great cistern, which gave 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 35 

head to the piping of the house and the bath- 
room of the main part already planned. 

The roomy barn, the ample woodshed and 
the well-lighted cellar under the house all came 
in due time. They were planned fully at the 
first, then as money came from the perennial 
supply, the earth; whatever was done was paid 
for, and fitted in like apiece of mosaic, with all 
that had been done before — it was simply a 
carrying out of the original plan. 

They had this idea, perhaps it was an erro- 
neous one, that this one hundred and sixt}^ 
acres was their invested capital, and the per 
cent, of interest obtainable therefrom was due 
to the labor of hand and brain, and the more 
brain the better. They made no debts, but as 
everything was paid for, they laid up no stock 
of worry and heartache. 

Over and over again they were urged to buy 
this forty or that eighty on time, it was such a 
bargain and they were often called careless of 
their own interests, or worse, because they 
claimed to know enough to manage their own 
affairs. But those who meddled most have 
lived to see the wisdom of their course, which 
has brought them peace and harmony. 

But these things did not happen all at once, 
nor rapidly, but in the natural outcome of the 


A WITCH OF THE 


steady working of two lives, the founders of a 
family to whom, newly come from the silent 
land, they offered a home, and by inference a 
share in the toil and profits accruing from the 
foundation and growth of that home. 

Is it not too often the case that the parents 
assume for themselves the right to direct and 
judge — aye, to force the children into the most 
distasteful and uncongenial conditions, assum- 
ing thereby that they — the parents — have 
created for their single use and behoof botli 
the bodies and souls of their children? The 
family, under this impious assumption, uncon- 
ciously becomes a remorseless despotism in- 
stead of the co-operative republic it ought to 
be. The interests of all the members are 
identical, and can in no sense be at variance. 
The judgment of the younger members is pro- 
portioned to their experience and the accumu- 
lation of past lives. 

The fall months of 1855 were unusually 
pleasant and favorable for farm work. Jane 
had a strong woman for a helper, and as there 
had been an addition built upon one side of the 
original cottage, containing two rooms, one 
for the family and the other for the children’s 
bedroom, there was ample accommodation for 
the present. The larger room was carpeted 


NINETEENTH CENTURY 37 

with rag-carpet, whose material had been pre- 
pared by Jane’s busy fingers at intervals, and 
even Thomas and the hired man had helped in 
the rainy days, for, strange to say, he had 
time enough to attend to everything except the 
hours of rainv-day loafing at the corner gro- 
cery, where so many of his neighbors swapped 
smutty stories and laughed at indecent jokes; 
for neither these nor the liquor which invaria- 
bly accompanied them had he any taste.. As 
we are talking about a human man, and an 
Englishman, we cannot deny that he smoked. 

But we were describing the cosy room, with 
its carpeted floor and white muslin curtained 
windows. The sills are old-fashioned and 
deep, so that a pet geranium or two and a 
heliotrope can find comfortable quarters where 
the southern sun peeps saucily in during the 
winter months. 

On the walls a few harmoniously colored 
chromos and a steel plate head of Washington 
relieved the otherwise bareness of the room. 
There were three windows, and a knot of 
cherry-colored ribbon held back the white cur- 
tains. On the day which we are describing, 
there had been a cot placed in this room, and 
duly made up, as Jane said to her help: 

“ To be all ready, you know. Things hap- 


38 


A WITCH OF THE 


pen sudden sometimes,” and then she laughed 
a blushing little laugh. 

For months and months Jane had been as 
happy as a bird could be; while she had worked 
hard, yet not to the overtaxing of herself, it 
was as if part of the harmony of a strain of 
music in which discord had no effect. It was 
as if all influences were combining to prepare 
the way of the coming and make the paths 
straight. 

From sunny September days was brewed a 
heavy frost, and as the year turned into the 
October house, clouds hung low and the 
weather became very treacherous. On the 
4tli of October a storm set in, and as the day 
grew old, coming events that cast their 
shadows before, had sent Thomas for the mid- 
wife and nurse. The evening waned and lost 
itself in the night. In the kitchen Thomas 
sat nervously waiting the end that should also 
be a beginning, in which of all that had oc- 
curred in their married life thus far he could 
be of no help. 

He could not shake off a feeling of awe- 
someness, as if the coming happening was, in 
this case, of more than usual importance. 
The old clock in the corner struck one, and 
drowsiness suddenly weighed down upon his 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 39 

eyelids, as if a heavy hand lay there. A voice, 
close to his ear, said: 

<k Look up, and for thyself see a few of the 
future years.” 

Apparently opening his eyes, he beheld a 
fair girl amidst the familiar, yet unfamiliar, 
surroundings of this home, a comfort and a 
joy to all, and yet, as he seemed to know, the 
soul was old beyond compare, full of a power 
that was ever and anon overflowing its 
bounds, as the bubbling waters of the fountain, 
inspired by the invisible ether within, over- 
leap the restraining edges. 

The voice resumed: 

41 Thou seest the coming soul. In ages long 
past thou didst love and reverence thy more 
than peer. The weakness of the instrument 
used does not absolve thee from thy obliga- 
tions of the past, present or the future. As 
thou hast hitherto striven to be, be now a man 
in all that is therein implied.” 

Here Thomas surprised himself in the act 
of apparently waking up. The clock struck 
two. The cry of the newly-born sounded 
from the other room, while a fierce gust of 
wind from the howling storm outside shook 
the house to its foundations. Hardly awake, 


40 A WITCH OF THE 

he heard a voice that sounded like his, but 
was it his? It said: 

“ October fifth, two o’clock in the morn- 
ing 1” 

What was it that had come to him amidst 
the screeching of the tempest and the fierce 
shock of contending vibrations. Was the 
curious vision of his wife a reality? Did the 
long ago dead re-embody? Who knew, and 
who could tell? Was it probable or possible 
for souls out of the body for ages, who had 
sinned and suffered, to once more claim herit- 
age upon the earth? Could the ancient races 
lay hold upon the modern peoples for the 
purposes of their own fulfillment, and why 
not? There, to this plain, honest, common 
sense inquirer after the truth, the matter for 
the present stopped. 

Why not? 

'Nothing is impossible to the One. Seem- 
ing impossibility is the result of our ignor- 
ance of law. We hardly know the laws that 
govern our own bodies. It is not strange that 
we fail to understand the far-reaching and 
interweaving of resultant force throughout 
the universe, much of it beyond even our 
spirit touch, for the very reason that we can- 
not understand. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 41 

Shortly the nurse announced that a vigor- 
ous, healthy girl-baby was his. A girl! This 
was a surprise. How, then, could it be that 
the revelation could be correct ? There must 
be a cog out somewhere, for a boy could not 
be a girl. Surely things are getting strangely 
mixed. The thing that was planned has 
failed. In coming to this conclusion he for- 
that sex belongs to the physical body, and 
has naught to do with the soul. The body is 
the tool or instrument of the soul, and the 
work done must differ with the character of 
the tool. One would not undertake to split 
rails with a razor, nor shave with an axe, and 
yet both are made of steel, and the difference 
would correspond with sex difference. Verily, 
in heaven they are neither married nor given 
in marriage, for sex is left with the body, to 
which it belongs. 

When the morning dawned in clearing 
brightness, the new father was admitted to 
the bedside of his wife, still weary with the 
greatest mystery of the world. In an under- 
tone she said: 

“ But, Thomas, he has come; I know it; only 
1 don’t see why it is a girl. How can a man 
be anything but a boy when he is born again ? 
See her.” So saying she uncovered the mor- 


42 


A WITCH OF THE 


sel of humanity by her side. At that moment 
the great, blue eyes opened, with an odd, old 
look, startling in its penetration and compre- 
hension of its surroundings. 

“ That’s an awful look,” said the startled 
father. “ She’ll be a witch, sure. She looks 
as if she knew more now than the grown-ups.” 

From that hour the father always stood a 
little in awe of this visitor in his household, 
whose coming had been so definitely presaged, 
and the actual advent seemed to be attended 
with natural disturbances. But nothing had 
had so much effect on him as that first look, 
to which some brotherhood tie of his own 
soul had at once replied, establishing for all 
time to come his warmest and tenderest affec- 
tion for this his first-born. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


4:3 


CHAPTER V. 

W HE vigorous body given into the keeping 
of a living soul grew and strengthened 
from day to day. It really seemed sick- 
ness-proof. It eat and slept; the ordi- 
nary set-backs of childhood had no effect 
upon it. It could hardly have been said to 
have had a sick day up to the time when this 
chapter opens. It was her seventh birthday. 

She was always kindly considerate of her 
companions, and helpful beyond the expecta- 
tion of her age. But there was about her 
large eyes an intent expression, as if constantly 
listening, a wierd impression, and her quaint} 
speech was a constant^ surprise to her mother, 
to whom she had become very dear, and to 
whom, in the soul’s self, had come a feeling of 
more than parental love comparable to noth- 
ing but old comradeship of sacrifice and ad- 
herence, until life itself had faded out into the 
Unseen. 

It was hardly to be expected that the child 
would be in the company of the father as 
much as in that of the mother, but many hours 
were spent together. Never was Elsie better 


44 


A WITCH OF THE 


pleased than when she could go into the field 
with her father, and “help fix it,” whatever 
was the allotment of the day. 

It was no wonder, then, that she was strong 
and full of life, and a good deal of a romp. 
Every live thing on the place seemed to know 
and respect her, from the big dog Turk, who 
had been a present as a puppy, for the baby, to 
the home-bred horse, who chafed under every 
hand but hers. 

As a birthday privilege she had begged her 
father’s permission to go over to the wood-lot 
with him to bring up a load of wood for win- 
ter’s use. Brigntand happy nearly always, 
and yet with an indefinable something resting 
upon her fair face, as the dawn imprints itself 
upon the hem of night’s sable robe, a mystic 
change constantly evolved. Upon that tablet 
there seemed always a perception of the light 
which is not on land nor sea, and yet is over 
all, and controls all, in its potent energy. 

She sat by her father’s side on the spring- 
seat, and, instead of bubbling over with her 
usual winsome chatter, a great stillness settled 
upon her. This her father perceived, and 
finally said: 

“ What ails thee, Elsie? What makes thee 
so still?” 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


45 


44 I don’t know, papa. It seems as if I was 
two great big people. I think it’s ’cause I 
have a birthday. Do you think people feel 
different on different birthdays? I don’t re- 
member that T felt so when I was six years old. 
But,” she added, “I don’t think I remember 
very well. Then there’s another thing, papa 
— didn’t l used to live somewhere else than 
here? Have I always lived here with you and 
mamma ever since I was borned? Tell me 
true, papa Thomas.” 

“You were born here, and have never been 
out of the neighborhood,” was the father’s re- 
ply, a perplexed look stealing into his own 
face. 

“ Then why is it, papa, I seem to remember 
about great, big palaces and temples, such as 
mamma reads about out of that history, and so 
many splendid people, who had the most beau- 
tifulest dresses and things on, and I seem to be 
one of them myself. Then I have horrid 
dreams sometimes. Seems as if I’d been real 
wicked, and I was going to be drowned, just 
like our poor little kittens. What makes me, 
papa, say?” 

The father could only reply: 

“ Why, Elsie, I can’t tefl.” Then there 
came vividly to his mind his wife’s vision, so 


46 


A WITCH OF THE 


many years since. Had that any connection 
with these thoughts of his little one? Was it 
true that the first rounding out of the number 
"seven brought about the beginning of a new 
unfolding, and this the beginning of the man- 
ner of it? 

A little feeling of jealousy came over him, as 
if the love and affection of the child,' which had 
been so much to him, was about to become less. 

As if in reply to the thought, Elsie looked 
up soberly, and said: “But, papa, I don’t 
care how many ones I be, and the dreams won’t 
make me proud. [ shall always love my papa, 
just as long as he is good, and ever so much 
longer, too, I guess.” 

So she dropped the subject, and the merry 
self reasserted itself again. But the lesson to 
the father was of much import, and did not 
drift out of his memory for days as he won- 
dered what it all portended. 

Arriving at the lot, the child was put upon 
the ground to wander at her own sweet will, 
for she was no stranger to “the woods,” and 
to gather such treasures of late fall flowers and 
leaf and nut as are always dear to the childish 
heart. Meanwhile the father occupied himself 
in making up the load he intended to carry 
back to the home. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 47 

An hour had elapsed, when suddenly a laugh- 
ing exclamation of Elsie’s rang clearly out on 
the crisp air. Then, “Oh, papa! see what the 
gentleman has given me,” and the next instant 
she came running up to him, holding some- 
thing that glistened in the sunshine. 

Mr. Holmes, taking it in his hand, perceived 
the glitter of gold and gem, and said: u Where 
did you get this, Elsie?” 

u That gentleman gave — but where did he go 
to? He was right there just a moment ago!” 
and perfectly bewildered she stopped, with her 
great blue eyes wide open and lips parted. It 
was perfectly plain that whatever it might 
seem to others, it was a reality to her. 

u There is no gentleman,” said the father. 
“He was there,” persisted the child. “ He 
had a long white dress on, and a white sun- 
bonnet, and he looked so kind I wasn’t a bit 
afraid of him. He had a gold chain about his 
neck, and this was hanging on it. He took it 
off and gave it to me. He said: ‘ I return thee 
this, which for years I have held in trust.’ 
What does ‘ in trust’ mean, papa?” and fairly 
out of breath the little one stopped. 

The father, still in a sort of daze, replied: 
“ Why, Elsie, it means it was yours, and he was 
keeping it safe for you, I suppose; but then, 


48 


A WITCH OF THE 


how ” and he stopped, for it was getting to 

be more and more of a puzzle to him. 

As he stopped speaking, a voice close by, 
grave in accent, but clear and bell-like in its 
intonation, said: “It is thine to wear in re- 
membrance of the day. Bind it about thy 
neck forever.” The father and the child both 
heard these words, and saw a grave, tall person- 
age, in an ashy gray robe, who smiled kindly 
upon them, and faded out into thin air. 

“I didn’t see him go anywhere; where is 
he?” was Elsie’s exclamation. 

“ I guess you will see him again sometime,” 
said the father, not at all alarmed by a phe- 
nomenon by no means strange to him. 

The father produced from his pocket a 
stout piece of twine. “ The man said 
t-hou’t to wear it, lass. He did not seem of 
the ne’er-do-weels, so we’ll put it on a string 
until thy mother can get a gold chain for thee 
from the city.” So saying, he tied firmly on 
her neck the locket, which held in a heavy 
frame of old gold a circular plate of sea-green 
beryl; on this was engraved a mystic symbol 
of brotherhood often seen in the carvings of 
the ancient Egyptians in both temple and 
tomb. 

This ready obedience of the father to the 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 41) 

injunction of the unknown messenger was of 
far more importance to him than could have 
seemed possible, as we shall see later on. We 
are very often liable to blame our spirit 
friends for the disastrous effects of our own 
tardy obedience to their requests made with 
a desire to help us. 

Seemingly quite impressed, Elsie found a 
seat between two tree-trunks growing closely 
together and was silent while her father fin- 
ished the loading. 

At last everything being in readiness, he 
made a seat for himself and the girl, and, 
calling her, helped her up, then mounting 
himself he turned his horses homeward. 
Hardly had they started when Elsie said: 

“ Why, papa, this locket talks. 1 hear 
words that seem to come from it.” 

“What does it say, lass?” asked the father. 

“Don’t cross the river on the upper bridge, 
or you’ll be sorry.” 

“Are you sure that is what it says?” 

“ Yes; it said it over and over two or three 
times.” 

This advice, if followed, would make nec- 
essary a detour of at least two miles, and the 
road was not quite so good; but not being a 
doubting Thomas, and having lived so many 


50 A WITCH OF THE 

years in full consciousness of the reality of 
the invisible and their intended benefactors 
to man, he turned off on the road that led to 
the lower bridge. “ It’s but a little thing,” 
he said, “and how can we get good or help 
from the invisible if we don’t act on their 
advice?” As he thought this, he happened to 
glance at the locket, which hung in full sight 
on Elsie’s neck. It seemed as if a ray of sun- 
shine rested on it, made more prominent be- 
cause the sun was held in a cloud. 

During the evening a neighbor called, and 
told him the upper bridge had broken down 
while a load of wood was going over it. The 
wagon was broken, the horses lamed and the 
owner, though badly scratched, had not been 
fatally injured. 

“ I knew you generally went that way,” he 
said, “so I thought I would come around and 
tell you.” 

“Yes,” replied Mr. Holmes, “but I did not 
come that way to-day. 

“Mighty lucky for you, you didn’t, neigh- 
bor,” was the response. 

As the man of whom they were talking was 
well-to-do, nothing more was said of it. 

Neither then nor at any other time did they 
or Elsie mention her gift to their neighbors; 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 51 

nor did she ever in her girlish years, offer to 
show it to her playmates. 

When they were alone that night the father 
and mother talked long and anxiously over 
Elsie’s birthday gift, and the circumstances of 
its coming. The mother, while having no 
doubt of the account, had but one solicitude in 
regard to it, and that was, would the talisman, 
for such it seemed to be, bring good to Elsie? 

"Wife, I think it must,” said Thomas; “any- 
how it is her’s and she must wear it, that’s 
plain.” 

So it happened that the very next time the 
good mother went to Chicago, she brought 
back a strong gold chain and clasp. In this 
case price was not counted nor considered. In 
those days gold was gold, for men’s passions 
and wrong doing had precipitated a crisis, and 
the War of the Rebellion was on. 

From this eventful day, Elsie, while not in 
any sense moping, seemed to have grown won- 
derfully discreet. It was like the blossom of 
the rose, which reaches a certain point slowly 
and in sequence, and then suddenly all at once 
bursts into full bloom, the air is deluged with 
its fragrance, and* the eye dazzled with its har- 
monies of color. So with Elsie; it seemed as 
if the minute-hand of her life had been moved 


52 


A WITCH OF THE 


forward several points. It was not the transi- 
tory change of a cloud passing over the sun, but 
permanent and natural, in some ways strange, 
however, because of the unexpectedness of it. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


58 


CHAPTER VI. 

P to this winter Elsie had not been to 
school. Her mother had taught her to 
read, and of her own accord she had 
picked up an old mental arithmetic, and spent 
much time in working upon the simple opera- 
tions of mathematics, questioning her mother 
closely at the first, but soon pushing her rea- 
soning far out into the intricacies of operation, 
and showing herself very bright on points, as 
occasion offered, where she had had no instruc- 
tion. But this winter she teased to go to 
school. 

A new district had been formed, and the new 
school-house had been built about a mile from 
the Holmes’ farm. The teacher they had 
hired was an elderly man, who had patience 
enough to be kind to the children. From 
his memory had faded, if it ever dwelt there, 
the ancient antithesis, “lickin' and lamin’. ” 
His soul had looked out along the paths of al- 
truism, and in the view of shortening life, 
greed had shriveled up in its effect on his daily 
life. It was a fortunate thing for Elsie. Was 
it a happen so, or was the “ wind tempered to 


A WITCH OF THE 


54 

the shorn lamb? 5 ’ How are we to take and ac- 
count for so many things of the inscrutable 
constantly coming to our notice and into our 
lives ? 

It was Monday after Thanksgiving, the 
school opened. There were thousands of 
hearts of wives and mothers throughout the 
country to whom it seemed hard to find crumbs 
enough of comfort to be thankful for. 

In the main, Elsie’s school-days passed 
much as other children’s, but occasionally 
some incident would indicate that the outer 
life was not the life within. 

Several times she came home and told of 
strangers who had come into the school-room, 
and, after respectfully addressing the teacher, 
moved about the room, and then she did not 
see them go out. 

“And, mamma,” she would say, “ they did 
not pay any attention to them. Teacher did 
not notice them no more than if they hadn’t 
been there.” 

To these remarks the wise mother made but 
little reply, for she knew, who better than she, 
that her daughter dwelt constantly on the bor- 
derland of two worlds, of which impressions 
were received from one as strongly as from the 
other. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


55 


There was one advanced pupil in the school, 
a lad of sixteen, who was pushing his studies 
in higher mathematics, hoping to become an 
engineer some day. His text-book was on 
conic sections, and in his usually clear dem- 
onstrations, Elsie always seemed much inter- 
ested. One day, however, he failed to obtain 
the correct result, and the teacher, coining to 
his assistance, was also baffled. While study- 
ing the intricacies of the work, the teacher, 
glancing casually over the room, as teachers 
are prone to do, saw Elsie’s hand raised. 

“ Well, Elsie, what is it?” 

“ Please, sir, you have a wrong place in 
your statement.” 

The teacher, half amused and half surprised, 
and, still, having perceived too much in this 
child to check anything of this kind that she 
might do within bounds, said, with just a little 
doubt in his voice: 

“Come up here, then; perhaps you can 
work the problem.” 

Without another word Elsie left her seat; a 
peculiar, set look, familiar to those who have 
made occult things a study, rested on her 
young face; her large'^yes were dilated to the 
fullest extent; at the same time she did not 
seem to be at all receptive of her surround- 


50 


A WITCH OF THE 


ings, nor of the wonder of the children and 
the amused look of the teacher and his wait- 
ing pupil. 

Still without a word Elsie took the crayon 
from the teacher’s hand, and, turning to the 
blackboard, in a large, firm, masculine hand, 
commenced with cos. ax sine a -j- cos. b =x, 
and without a pause or any sign of hesitation 
whatever, wrote out a demonstration covering 
half the blackboard, and concluding with the 
correct result. The demonstration was clear 
and indisputable. 

The surprised teacher said, simply: “Thank 
you, Elsie.’’ 

The child turned back to her seat, and the 
quick eye of the teacher alone noted the clear- 
ing of her face to its usual expression^'and 
then the head went down on the folded arms 
upon the desk in front, and for half an hour 
she slept undisturbed. 

It is to be inferred that the wise old soul 
within did not often thus test the strength 
and power of his instrument, but one more in- 
cident happening this winter should be related 
here : 

One day after school was dismissed, one of 
the boys of the ruder sort had picked up a for- 
lorn kitten, which he was abusing with the 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


57 


usual boyish heedlessness. He had seated him- 
self upon a stone by the side of the road the 
better to accomplish his purpose, and was giv- 
ing full reign to the brute within, which is the 
common heritage of mankind, whether civilized 
or uncivilized. 

F e w things ever so distressed Elsie as cruelty 
to animals, and the more defenseless they 
were, so much the more was she up in arms 
for their protection. So now she indignantly 
asked the young scamp to stop his torture. 

“ It’s my cat, and it ain’t none of your busi- 
ness, anyhow,” was the tart rejoinder. 

Before he could make any resistance Elsie 
had seized the kitten, and holding it in her 
arms, at the same time turning upon him a 
face that fairly shone, she earnestly said: 

“It is mean in you to be so cruel. 1 hope you 
will have to sit there until you are better!” 

Saying that she walked quickly away. The 
boy stared after her until she disappeared 
around a turn in the road, carrying the kitten 
nestled in her arms. 

After a little he tried to get up, but a hand 
on his shoulder seemed to hold him down. A 
burst of tears relieved his first alarm, and, 
after some meditation, a genuine regret filled 
his thoughts. 


58 


A WITCH OF THE 


'“I 'guess I was mean, and I’ll never do so 
any more, s’help me,” was the ejaculation 
just above his breath. 

No sooner had he uttered these words than 
he felt free to move, and hurried home. 
There was something more in this than the 
mere telling as it appeared on the surface, for 
quite a change was wrought in the boy, who, 
from a person inclined to tease the defence- 
less, became the defender, and always there- 
after was one of Elsie’s strongest champions. 

It was plain to all who witnessed or knew 
of any of these displays of abnormal power 
that it was not Elsie the child, but something 
that was and was not her. When questioned 
about how she did those “strange things,” 
her reply invarably was: 

u 1 don’t do them ; they do themselves.’’ 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


CHAPTER VII. 



8 the years went by, and her mental 


perception increased, she became more 


and more reserved, repressing with- 


in herself any exhibition of the powers which 
seemed constantly to grow stronger. She had 
no desire to draw upon herself the criticism 
of witlings, nor to become a center for pub- 
lic notoriety. It was enough for. her that 
she knew something of her own strength, and 
that those nearest to her — her father and 
mother — both understood and sympathized 
with her. 

In the fall of 1863 she advised her father to 
invest his spare cash in some land on the 
South Side of Chicago, which a business 
friend was very anxious at the time to get rid of. 
It was a bargain. In August, 1871, the father 
came home from the city one day, and said: 

“ Elsie, lass, I had an offer for that piece 
of property of ours in the city. Sam Briggs 
offers me $18,000 for it; I think he’ll give 
$20,000, but it has doubled itself every two 
years, and it seems to me it will sell for more. 


What dost think?” 


GO A WITCH OF THE 

41 If he will give $20,000 for it, take it,' 7 
was Elsie’s swift reply. “ It will be worth 
much less before it is worth more.” 

So strongly was the father convinced of 
the unseen guidance that he obeyed implic- 
itly now, in all cases where the instruction 
was definite, so the next day the bargain was 
completed. A few days later, the $20,000 in 
government bonds w^as in the safe, built into 
a vault constructed under the old house. At 
that time bonds were the nearest approach to 
cash, gold and silver it was possible to reach. 

It was on the 5th of October, 1871, that 
Elsie’s sixteenth birthday came. The old 
house had been so enlarged and added to, 
that it could hardly have been remembered, 
even for itself, of sixteen years before. The 
theory had been worked into practice; the 
whole one hundred and sixty acres had been 
transformed into a garden in its fertility, 
and its profits were often tenfold those of the 
neighboring sections, in which all labor and 
material were spread over four times as 
much space. Concentration tells, whether of 
thought or hand-work. 

But in the best room, after tea, there were 
Elsie, her father and mother, and four girl 
friends, who, of all their neighbors, were 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 01 

neither afraid nor ashamed to declare their 
belief that man dies not, and that he can 
communicate with the living, if the living 
will only hear. 

There had been a little birthday supper, 
and now they were sitting quietly talking in 
restful tones, whose peace brought harmony 
to all the vibrations, and waiting for what 
might be given to them through Elsie. 

Sitting in a high-backed chair, her head 
resting easily against the crimson plush, and 
her eyes closed, she was very fair to look upon, 
and although her dress was not costly beyond 
her station, yet all the colors* the fitting and 
the finishing, and the softness aid the fineness 
of the textures themselves, were studies for an 
artist. 

Sitting thus, her friends perceived a change 
steal over her face, a change familiar to those 
who have taken any steps to become acquainted 
with the dwellers of the Summerland. Then, 
with features fixed and rigid, she commenced 
speaking in a quick, terror-stricken way: 

“ I see a great city at night, and a fire breaks 
out. It is a small fire at the first, and the fire- 
men seem to put it out. But no! they don’t 
put it quite out, for it breaks out again. I 
think it is Chicago, on the West side and the 


A WITCH OF THE 


02 

North side and the South side are all on lire. 
Only the North and South sides are badly 
burnt. The West is injured but a little. The 
wind blows from the southwest. All the 
stores are burnt up and the fire comes north 
until there is no more for it to burn, and then 
it stops. The air is on lire; it is like a great 
furnace. People have no time to save their 
furniture, hardly their lives. I see them fly- 
ing everywhere. Oh, it is horrible! There 
has never been sutdi a disaster since the world 
stood. I see now great heaps of blackened 
ruins, piles of bricks and stones and ashes. I 
see also the manifestations of the world’s pity 
in instant relief; then as the pictures fade into 
one another in a dissolving view, I behold a 
new, fairer city, stately and grand, that will, 
before the century ends, bring all the world to 
look upon her strength and beauty, for the 
‘ Strong Men of the West 1 will surely rebuild 
most magnificently their favorite city.” 

Words fail to describe the effect of this reve- 
lation upon this little group of hearers. But 
Elsie’s father in a low voice, asked: 

u Is this near at hand ?” 

u The beginning is almost here. The time 
is numbered by days,” was the answer. 

This warning, so soon to be verified, was 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 63 

but idle wind in its effect on doubting men, 
who, from Noah until now, have ever replied 
to the prediction of calamity by the Unseen 
with a careless laugh and an imperious assump- 
tion of self -protection. 

No man of forty years of age is now living 
who does not remember the awful news of that 
October day in 1871, out of whose terror and 
devastating desolation has been reincarnated 
for ns the new Chicago, now making itself 
ready to entertain the world at its Fete. 

Elsie stopped speaking, and was soon her 
natural self again. The vision having come 
through trance, was known to her only as her 
hearers told her. She having been uncon- 
scious, could offer no explanation nor addi- 
tional information. 


64 


A WITCH OF THE 


CHAPTER VIII. 

EFORE going farther with our heroine. 



simply premising that her father and 


mother, seeking the possible for her, 
concluded to send her to a school in one of the 
Eastern States, and while she is getting ready 
to go, we will go on ahead, and see for our- 
selves the annoyances that await her. 

On a lonely road, just beyond a still lonelier 
forest, stands a large, square house, evidently 
once the residence of a wealthy owner. The 
heavy blinds are shut, but the grounds and the 
house itself are well-kept in spite of the loneli- 
ness. A faithful man and his wife are in 
charge, who know it is for their interests to be 
careful and not to talk to any chance visitor. 
They have keys to the lower part of the build- 
ing, but to the upper story no one has ever 
been admitted save the master and some 
friends, who come here once in three months 
for a couple of days, always at the time of the 
full moon. They have done this for almost 
thirty-five years. In this time the master has 
seemed to age much faster than the years 
simply would warrant. Some secret anxiety 
has disquieted him. So thinks the aged serv- 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


♦>5 

itor, and says nothing, which is most discreet 
in him. 

To-night is one of their regular meetings. 
Driving up from the nearest railroad station, 
seven old men come to the house, and being 
admitted to the lower part of the building, are 
waited upon by the serving man and his wife, 
as they have done many times before. The 
rooms below are comfortable, and embrace a 
sitting-room, a dining-room and kitchen, with 
seven bedrooms. Small need, however, of 
these latter for guests whose best work must 
be done when others sleep. 

The upper part of the house has, in its cen- 
ter, two rooms of nearly equal size, separated 
by a portiere of embroidered silk, heavy with 
gold thread. Between the walls of the house 
and the inner rooms is a passageway of about 
five feet wide, completely surrounding them. 
There is but one door opening out of this pass- 
age into the inner rooms; the partition wall 
Avas thick, of brick, and unpierced by any 
opening save the door, yet means had been 
found for ventilation. More than that, pre- 
cautions had been taken on the inside to brick 
up under the blinds all of the windows, so that 
whatever secret these rooms held, was likely 
to be so held until the end of time. 


m 


A WITCH OF THE 


When they have finished their supper and 
are ready, the master takes a key from his 
pocket, and, opening by a concealed panel in 
the wall the lock of a door, lie applies liis key; 
the heavy door swings wide open. The Seven 
slowly ascend the stairs to the upper story, 
where they find themselves in the hallway 
already mentioned, a few steps from the door 
leading into the inner rooms. 

At the Master’s touch the door slides noise- 
less^ open, and they all enter. The room is 
plainly furnished — there is a round table in 
the center, and comfortable arm-chairs, finished 
in cane on a dark frame, stand around it. 
Here they take their seats in some sort of pre- 
arranged order. There is but a word or two, 
and those in the quietest and most even tones. 
Nothing but a perfect harmony between each 
member could have brought about a helpful 
condition for the exercise of potency, no mat- 
ter for what purpose. 

The round table is of ebony, inlaid with rich 
woods in some mystic design, and divided into 
seven segments. Over the center, at some five 
feet above the table hangs a crystal globe, 
from whose interior glows a luminous center. 
This brilliancy, modified by the medium 
through which it shone, sheds a steady radiance 


NINETEENTH CENTUEY. 


H7 

on all these men of unmistakable purpose and 
inscrutable, strange knowledge. 

As we look at them, they every one show 
that their plans once formed are rarely di- 
verged from, but pushed to the end regardless 
of any personal suffering or pain. They are 
gray-haired, and their long beards are white. 
For years they have trod the mystic path. 
Three are doctors in most successful practice. 
One is a divine, known throughout the world 
for his persuasive pulpit oratory. Two are 
professors in institutions of learning, whose 
signatures upon the books they now and then 
give to the world, stamp the work in the sci- 
entific and literary world as authority. The 
seventh is a magnate in the business world, 
whose associates and the world at large deem 
gifted with the cap of Fortunatus. His career 
has been most marvelous. How little does the 
careless, happy-go-lucky world of ours know 
of the inner mystery, the carefully concealed 
life of those whose successful effects only are 
permitted to the gaze of all beholders. To 
whomsoever dares enter the chamber of initia- 
tion is permitted according to his courage, and 
that only. 

It has been demonstrated beyond a doubt 
that to such men, when keepers of the holy 


A WITCH OF THE 


68 

places, a great deal of the mystic thought of 
the present day is due, by which everybody is 
impelled in a greater or less degree, to seek to 
know something of the Unseen and Intangi- 
ble, which is the only real. 

Before going on with our story we must 
make one or more explanations— that is, while 
these men were apparently absorbed in the 
calls of the outer life, they never for one mo- 
ment let go of the thread of the inner, and by 
their united purpose in investigation demon- 
strated beyond doubt several questions of be- 
wildering perplexity to the average mind. On 
this present meeting they were to receive an 
answer to a problem they had waited years to 
solve, but we will let the story explain itself. 

The tones of the speakers had grown lower 
and lower, and their words farther and farther 
apart, until the chime of a clock, solemn as 
the note of a cathedral bell, hanging on the 
wall opposite the Master’s place, proclaimed 
the quarter-hour. His quiet voice then said: 

“Let the brothers now clothe themselves in 
the apparel of the order.” 

At this, each member of the circle approached 
the wall of the room, and from secret cabinets 
drew long, white robes with flowing sleeves, a 
girdle for the waist, and a light, square mus- 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 09 

liii headdress, also with flowing side-pieces. 

As each donned his insignia he returned to 
his place quietly, and with as little stir as the 
soft murmur of the summer zephyr among the 
leaves of the grove. 

On the girdle of each was a symbol wrought 
into a crystal sphere hanging pendant, but on 
the headdress of him who was chief, there was 
a seven-pointed star, in which the play of 
colors was as varying and vivid as the confisca- 
tion of a diamond. 

A few moments more of silence, in which 
the ticking of the clock was like the blows of 
a trip-hammer, and then the Elder Brother 
spoke. kt The day for which we have in 
patience contented our souls is here. May the 
Wisdom of th<3 Ages guide us and protect us, 
and make us . potent.’ 1 Turning to his left- 
hand he made a challenge; this was answered 
and repeated until it returned whence it came. 
This in tri-form, thrice repeated, was followed 
by a sign of manifestation. Then all rising, 
clasped hands, and professed unity. Then, 
with the hands clasped, as in the old Egyptian 
rite, they covered themselves with the invoca- 
tion and adjuration of the unspeakable. 

This opening was followed by the usual 
routine of record-keeping, and the reports of 


TO 


A WITCH OF THE 


the outcome of experiments going on all over 
the world — in India, in Central America, in 
the mountains of Afghanistan, in Egypt and 
Abyssinia. 

But now the clock chimed the beginning of 
the last quarter before low twelve. The Elder 
Brother made the sign of attention; at once 
every eye was fixed upon him. As one man 
they stood up, and stepped to the right of the 
seats they occupied; then, with like precision 
as one, they followed him, leading the way to 
the heavy curtains of the archway between the 
two rooms. As they approach, the curtains, 
seemingly of their own accord, parted at the 
center and slowly opened. At the commence- 
ment of the movement we are describing, a low 
hum had become audible, increasing rapidly in 
energy and loudness, and as the curtains were 
swept aside it became a long-drawn note on a 
minor key, sobbing and throbbing with the 
sorrows of the race. Tt was the appeal of pro- 
jected potency to the powers of the human 
soul, on the lines of constraint most resistless. 

At the same time throughout both the rooms 
there floated a penetrating perfume, exhilarat- 
ing almost to intoxication, and under whose 
effect the limiting walls of human environ- 
ment seemed to fade away. Added to this, was 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 71 

an apparently increased power, a peculiar, pene- 
trating quality of the light, a proof that all 
the different phenomena were referable to one 
cause, and that was the raising of the vibra- 
tions of manifestation by the outflowing force 
of a mighty will then and there present. 

All this, taking so long to describe happened 
all at once, another evidence that they were 
but effects of the same cause, and that cause 
the concentration of the human will to move 
and control where it is man’s right, or he has 
seized upon the ability at Ins own hazard, to 
dominate and direct. Man is, and may 
always be, lord and master and not the slave 
of circumstances. 

As the curtains of the portiere si ipped back 
they revealed a room of the same size as the 
one occupied for the meeting — square and 
spacious, and finished on the sides and ceil- 
ing in some kind of glazed pottery of a bluish 
tint. In this were inlaid in red and black 
mosaic, symbols of the ancient Cabalists, 
which, to him who knew, held clustered about 
them by the power of the thought of the 
most learned and powerful of the wise men 
of all the past ages most awful potency, both 
to protect and to seize. The whole was fin- 
ished in the most perfect manner possible, 


A WITCH OF THE 


72 

and shimmered like a polished mirror. The 
lustre of reflection was soft and powerful 
wherever it fell upon the living-. From the 
ceiling a globe of crystal maintained its equi- 
poise without visible means of support. It 
was evidently a source of light, but it did not 
yield it in the same way as an ordinary lamp, 
for no glare prevented its being distinctly 
seen in the universally diffused light coming 
from nowhere in particular. 

On one side of the room was a circle about 
five feet in diameter, inclosed by a triple cir- 
cumference of red, white and black. The 
outer circle was black, and the inner red. 
The form and color symbolized their belief 
that darkness and silence held all, and that 
fire was the creative energy; to this was due 
also the color of the arterial blood or life of 
the body. The interior of this circle, in its 
whole area, resembled the ground glass of a 
photographic camera. Over its surface form- 
less shadows were moving in a measured 
rhythm, corresponding to the pulsations of 
sound, color and fragrance, now manifesting 
themselves so intensely to the personal sense. 
Upon this septum are reflected the secret 
records of the “ Hall of Learning.” Whoso 
has the key can read herein the things of 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 73 

the past and the future, for are not these part 
of the astral records — that divine memory 
which remembers all things, both the evil 
and the good, every jot or title for Karmic ex- 
piation in the ages to come? But let him 
who attempts exploration of this field take 
heed to himself, lest the evil deceive him by 
appearing to be good, for of such is its nature. 

On the opposite side of the room, running 
the whole length, was a highly-polished ma- 
hogany table, inlaid with silver. On this 
rested a most intricate arrangement of wires, 
wheels and electric multipliers. These were 
all evidently connected with a glass case con- 
taining a magnificent galvanic battery. Over 
the center of this curious mechanism, against 
the wall, was a large dial like a clock-face. 
A very grotesquely carved frame of ebony 
surrounded the dial, the whole representing 
the Egyptian symbol of Eternity — a serpent 
with its tail in its mouth. There were five 
hands, each ending in a serpent’s head, with 
brilliants for eyes. The usual circle for the 
hours and minutes was in the center. Out- 
side of this were the months and days, and on 
an outer circle still were numbered years 
from one to twenty-five. At a moment which 
we are now describing, the hands indicated 


74 


A WITCH OF THE 


five minutes before twelve o’clock of the last 
day of the twelfth month of the twenty-fifth 
year. There was not the smallest part of this 
superb mechanism but what was of the most 
perfect finish and highest polish. 

But in the center of the room, on a raised 
dais, at an angle of forty-five degrees, so as to 
be in full view, was placed a casket of glass. 
Within its crystal walls reclined a maiden of 
wonderful beauty. Her hair of that rippling, 
lustrous gold about which poets and artists 
rave, flowed about her neck and shoulders, a 
great, ambient flood of color, reflecting back 
the soft, brilliant light of the room from its 
glossy waves. A robe of foamy tissue cov- 
ered her, save where the bare arms and shoul- 
ders, rounded and full, showed their exquisite 
and statuesque proportions. She lay with 
closed eyes as in slumber. 

The seven advancing slowly and decorously 
arranged themselves evidently in stated 
places, each standing upon a different inlaid 
symbol upon the floor. Once again they 
joined hands in that mystic interclasp of 
unity. On the instant the music increased 
in its intensity; it became a spoken spell, a 
voiced invocation, and all the corresponden- 
cies were advanced in the same ratio. If 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


75 


souls can be called back from whence they go, 
they certainly could not resist this appeal. 

And now a strange thing happened. Dim. 
shadowy forms floated through the room, in- 
distinctly perceived. Then came the shud- 
dering thrill by which all physical being in- 
voluntarily testifies its allegiance to the 
iinseen, and spiritual, passing through each 
person present. 

Then he who was Master spoke, and as he 
did so the seven-pointed star on his forehead 
flashed and flamed as if moved by an inner in- 
telligence belonging to itself alone. These 
were his words: 

“Brothers of the eternal and mystic num- 
ber, we meet at last for the final verification 
of the great, central idea. We shall soon 
know whether the soul dominates the body 
through the infinite ages. The hand on the 
dial approaches the full time when the twenty- 
five years shall be completed since, in this 
room, my beloved daughter, of her own free 
will, passed from anesthesia to suspended ani- 
mation. During this quarter of a century the 
body has been preserved intact from the power 
of Zeb Chronos, the Destroyer. It is un- 
touched by the mouldering decay which hap- 
pens to gross mortality. Our skill and her 


A WITCH OF THE 


•Tfi 

acquiescence preserves this physical form to us 
this day beautiful and perfect as at the mo- 
ment when she so willingly offered herself as 
a volunteer explorer in this untried and dan- 
gerous advance into the domain of the Un- 
knowm Science. Thus far our experiment is a 
success. We are now to learn from the actual 
whether the spirit can re-enter the body at 
will. Are we ready?” 

The sages bowed low as one man, and their 
voices as one voice, replied: 

“In the name of the Three, the Five, the 
Seven, we are ready.” 

The hands on the dial of the great clock 
moved slightly. The twenty-five years was 
finished, and the lid of the casket flew open! 
The occupant moved, opened her eyes — blue 
as the sapphires of St. John’s vision — and 
spoke. Her voice was not of mortal cadence, 
and seemed like an answering chord to the 
music which had now ceased. A silence fol- 
lowed, as profound and as far from all mortal 
things as light is from darkness. It was the 
silence which, louder than the seven thun- 
ders, speaks to the soul of unutterable things. 
Like the music of a dream her words fall on 
the inner sense, the true clairaudience, with- 
out the need of the auditory nerve. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 77 

'“Father, dear, and my honored friends, I 
have come back, answering your invocation, to 
fulfill my obligation under our most solemn 
compact, T answer your unspoken question 
by word, as action lias already replied. It is 
possible for those who have passed beyond 
the veil to come back to the earth-form, if it is 
kept unsoiled and perfect; but oh! my father, 
it is not desirable for the soul who has pro- 
gressed so to do. The youth outgrows the 
swaddling bands of infancy. If this is true 
of the outer manifestation, how much more so 
is it of the spiritual grown apart of its gar- 
ment of clay? Never, voluntarily, will the 
Soul descend again into its old, out-grown 
prison-house, 

“ The new body of the perfect revealed to 
the wise ones under the symbol of the Resur- 
rection, will be as spiritual and perfect as the 
soul, a growth from within outwardly, the re- 
verse of the manifestation now known to your 
personal sense as physical growth. Farewell, 
dearly beloved, until you, released also from 
fetters of clay, shall meet me in the eternal and 
undying. I adjure you, by the dreadful 4 word 
of power,' to let me go. With all the spirit 
force I have attained during these years of so- 
journ beyond the veil. I will this dust to dust. ” 


78 


A WITCH OF THE 


As these words vibrated out in firm, clear 
tones, a cloud of fine ashes fell back into the 
casket, covering the whole surface of the bot- 
tom, and leaving a glorified shape that floated 
out into the room and was gone. 

Upon the faces of the seven came a look of 
relief, as when one has grasped the solution 
of an intricate problem. Only upon the coun- 
tenance of the Master appeared aught of 
cloud, as if in the cup of success there re- 
mained a single drop of the bitterness of the 
waters of Marah. She had been his daughter 
and companion in all his studies until the fatal 
day when, inspired by enthusiasm, with the 
self-devotion peculiar to her sex, she had 
offered herself as a subject for this dangerous, 
and, as it proved, fatal experiment. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


CHAPTER IX. 



FEW days later this father sits, in a 


distant city, by himself, in an elegantly 


appointed suite of appartments in 


whose fittings, evidently regardless of cost, ex- 
quisite taste and luxurious desire had spared 
no detail, although located in a large hotel. 
As the building is his, these rooms were de- 
signed and fitted up with special reference to 
his own occupancy. They^ are on the upper 
floor, in an angle, which receives the smallest 
amount of the incident wave of sound always 
breaking against the blocks of a great city. 
Moreover the elevation is such that the roar 
and rattle intrude only in a faint, far-off mur- 
mur. Thus was the solitude of a desert-place 
secured, even in the tossing turmoil of a surg- 
ing, crowded business mart, whose masses are 
utterly regardless of the things which most 
nearly concern their real welfare. 

The hotel people thought it a little queer he 
should thus seclude himself, and prefer the 
solitude to the busy' tidal flow of the lower 
floors; but that was his own concern, and they 
did not presume that the payment of rent en- 


A WITCH OF THE 


80 

titled them to the privilege of asking any un- 
necessary or personal questions in regard to 
matters that were wholly private. It is true 
there is no place of concealment equaling a 
large city for its completeness. But the serv- 
ants said he had not been quite right since his 
wife died and his daughter disappeared. The 
rooms, three in number— sitting-room, library 
and sleeping apartment — were, as we have 
already stated, tastefully and harmoniously 
fitted with a special regard for the unities and 
massing of colors and forms. They were scru- 
pulously cared for by his own special servant, 
a son of Ham of most decided color, whose 
fidelity knew no doubt; but though on duty 
constantly in the daytime, no sum in gold 
paid down would have induced him to pass a 
night within their walls. 

u Ole marse is good — never was better than 
he,” he said; “but dis nigga no bisness with 
what he knows.” 

But cunningly concealed from questioning 
eyes and tongues, in the space occupied by the 
inner divisions and the outside walls, was a 
small room five feet by seven. The entrance 
to this no man knew, save the present owner 
and occupant. Here daily, save when the full- 
moon meetings were held, either the physical 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 81 

or astral form of the Master was present. 

As he sits now musing, thinking of things not 
lawful to utter, even in the lowest whisper, lest 
the ever-moving thought currents of the Uni- 
verse transplant some prolific germ to a fertile 
mind, which, seizing hold upon suggested pos- 
sibilities could, through selfish manipulation, 
make the world worse, the little clock on the 
mantel, with a sweet trill of bird-notes, an- 
nounces the hour of twelve midnight. He 
rises, throws off his dressing-gown, and robes 
himself in a white linen stole, with flowing 
sleeves, reaching to the floor, puts upon his 
feet a pair of glass slippers, and a belt of some 
dark, flexible material is clasped about his 
waist. On one side of the room, painted upon 
a large tablet of ivory, is a full-length portrait 
of the lovely girl who has gone hence into the 
silent world. He approaches it, touches a 
spring, and the whole tablet opens into the 
room, disclosing the secret chamber alreadj' 
mentioned. At the instant of opening a bril- 
liant light flashed out relieving a previous 
darkness. The floor is of glass, the walls are 
constructed of plates of metal in some order 
of sequence continued through the whole 
series. In the full light they shine with a 
polish undimmed by the action of the atmos- 


82 


A WITCH OF THE 


pliere. The roof was arched in an eliptical 
outline. In the exact center was an easy chair 
of glass, standing on a glass platform, raised 
from the floor-level by a single step, but the 
seat, back and arms of the chair were uphol- 
stered in white silk. 

The Master stepped into the room, the panel- 
door, as if closed by invisible hands, swung 
softly to as he advanced to the elixir and seated 
himself. Every step he made on the polished 
floor was attended with curious corruscations 
of phosphorescent light and resonant crackle, 
as if one were walking on a thin metallic sur- 
face which yielded to the pressure of the 
weight. When seated, directly before him 
flxed in the wall, was a circular metal mirror, 
three feet in diameter, made of an amalgam 
covered with glass, known to the wise, ages 
and ages ago. He fixes his eyes upon the mir- 
ror, and the powers of his mind draw at once 
toward himself, all that belongs to him, 
hitherto scattered through all the channels of 
Universal communication. Over the. face of 
the mirror comes an intense blackness, which 
completely obscures it. It was as if the mir- 
ror had, for the time, been entirely removed 
from the wall. This slowly breaks away, un- 
folding from the center; then as the surface 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


83 

become svisible once more, six forms are seen 
clearly mirrored upon its surface. At first in- 
distinct, they finally come out clearly defined 
on this wonderful tressel-board. The faces 
are those of the “ mystic brotherhood,” who 
ad interim , meet thus on the astral plane for 
consultation. The sign of greeting is ex- 
changed, then the Master asks, audibly: 
“What know ye, my brothers, of interest to 
the visible brotherhood?’’ 

Then answered one of the forms, his voice 
sounding as if far off, and yet every word fall- 
ing clearly upon the inner senses: 

“Rejoice with me, my brothers! There has 
come to the school with which I am connected, 
a young girl whose mystic powers are of the 
most pronounced character. This, 1 already 
perceive. From time to time, I will inform 
you of what she may develop, which may seem 
suitable for our purpose. Is this in accord with 
your views, my brothers?’’ 

The answer, “ Be it as you say,” was start- 
lingly distinct. 

A change of feature was also discernible on 
the face of each — a lighting up as if with en- 
thusiastic earnestness. Thus was Elsie doomed 
to trials from which nothing but the acquired 
strength of previous incarnations could possi- 


84 


A WITCH OF THE 


bly deliver her. Other matters were discussed 
before this session closed, but as they were not 
relevant to our story, we will not linger to 
describe matters which are sure not to bring 
good to the world in their ultimate outcome. 
So let us return to our heroine. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


85 


CHAPTEK X. 

OLSIE’S, preparations liad been duly made, 
r and when the school selected opened its 
school year, she entered herself upon 
its roster of students. 

Unusually bright and gifted, she at once 
attracted the attention of her teachers, and 
especially of one of the most staid and dig- 
nified of the professors, who began evidently 
to seek her friendship in a quiet, undemon- 
strative way. There were no suggestions 
whatever on the lower plane, nor anything 
even of the slightest to which she could ob- 
ject or take umbrage; but there was a wall of 
some kind which prevented her feeling free 
towards him. 

As the months went on and she became in- 
terested in her studies, and accustomed to the 
change from the freedom of home-life, she 
found herself very much attracted by some of 
the lines on which the professor was consid- 
ered an authority. 

The more she sought to know the more she 
was attracted towards this particular instruc- 
tor. It was also a fact that the subjects dis- 


A WITCH OF THE 


m 

cussed related to the unseen, and were of the 
class of which the ordinary man disclaims all 
knowledge whatever. But the professor, in 
his teachings, seemed always to speak in the 
present, and of his own personal knowledge, 
giving new life and added zest to that which 
is usually called a very dry subject. 

Finally three or four of the class were 
singled out for special instruction; why, the 
reader by this time can probably make a good 
guess. This special class met three times a 
week, at the professor’s house, in a little class- 
room opening out of the professor’s study. 
The hours of meeting were, at the first, set in 
the early evening, and from beginning to end 
of the six months which ended so peculiarly 
and unexpectedly to the professor, there was 
nothing on the physical plane to which the 
highest, purest chivalry of that plane could 
take exceptions, or calumny breathe a whisper 
of slander against. The class consisted of 
four young ladies, all impressible on the 
psychic plane. 

None were more sensitive than Elsie, but 
while all seemed to possess this gift, there 
was a difference in the manifestation as well 
as in the capability for induction which each 
manifested. But Elsie, besides her unusual 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 87 

powers exercised at will, seemed pervaded 
with an indescribable dominant force that 
made itself felt as soon as any attempt at will- 
power was projected toward her by another. 
It was not exactly resentful or antagonistic, 
but a mixture in which any selfishness was 
left out and overcome by the influence of the 
mighty self-poise of the spirit itself. 

But whatever might be the relative powers 
of these spirits, they were all united in one 
purpose and thought, and that purpose was 
the seeking of knowledge — a knowledge that 
might become wisdom when fully compre- 
hended and assimilated. 

Study on abstruse and occult lines was suc- 
ceeded by experiments, first on the plainest 
and simplest lessons of introversion, passing 
from easy examples by almost insensible 
gradation to the higher and more difficult; 
commencing with the effects of thought upon 
one’s self and then upon companions, until 
standing on the threshold of the great gate of 
the temple of the Universe, they essayed to 
lay hold of the mighty powers whose mastery 
is the lesson set to man to be learned during 
the ages of incarnation, failing which he is 
remanded to the lives, to do his task over 
again many times, perhaps, before he succeeds 


88 


A WITCH OF THE 


in the accomplishment by which man be- 
comes a god. 

Right here a difference that had been widen- 
ing as the instructions went on, grew so 
marked as actually to delay the progress of 
the class. Part of the members seemed to 
lose in a degree their desire to progress; a part 
became careless of the drill that was abso- 
lutely necessary if they proceeded — in fact, 
all seemed disconcerted but Elsie, who grew 
more and more fearless as she grasped more 
and more fully the knowledge that lies behind 
the veil. This condition was the result of 
direct resistance from the keepers and guar- 
dians, 'who, like the flaming sword of Genesis, 
keep off the timid and weak. Bulwer tells us 
of a “ dweller on the threshold,” and all writ- 
ers who write from knowledge always inti- 
mate what may be expected by the explorer 
into untried regions. 

There was also a singular difference between 
the action of Elsie and her companions in 
passing into the hypnotic state. Her asso- 
ciates all seemed to surrender passively to the 
guidance of the master-will without volition 
of their own, as one submits to be blindfolded 
and led by another. But Elsie, simply by 
the force of her own will, appeared to consent 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 89 

or comply with the request of the Master, 
and whatever she did on the psychic plane 
was with the full sense of self-consciousness. 
This explanation seems necessary in view of 
what followed. The old professor often 
looked steadily at her in a sort of dazed way, 
but whatever he saw he did not confide to 
anyone else. 

The whole class had so progressed in the . 
language of the silence, that the act com- 
monly known as thought transference had be- 
come an almost perfect occurrence, and the 
visible presence was not needed for knowledge 
of each other. 

The second year of Elsie’s school term had 
closed, bringing commendation and honor to 
her as an exceptional and brilliant student. 
She returned to her Western home for the 
long vacation. We must now turn our 
thoughts to the other actors in this o’er true 
tale. 


A WITCH OF THE 


90 


CHAPTER XI. 

\ OW, let us return to that lonely house 
_ \ which we have before described in these 
pages. It is again time for the regular meet- 
ing of the terrible seven. It is deemed desira- 
ble by the companions that those who have 
been under the professor’s training should be 
summoned to the assembly. The room in 
which we saw at our last visit the casket and 
the machinery for noting the lapse of time, has 
been removed, and in its place stand now, on a 
half ellipse, seven chairs — three on each side of 
the presiding brother. In the focus of this 
curve stands a huge globe of glass, three feet 
in diameter, resting in a set of brazen claws, 
which bear it aloft from the floor. Other than 
these no furnishings are visible, save a square 
block of polished onyx just beyond the globe, 
rising about two feet from the floor. This 
block ,has a queer trick of lighting up and then 
becoming dull again, at the same time emitting 
a low musical note, which is all very nice, per- 
haps, but gives a peculiar sensation up and 
down one’s spine when watching it, and a feel- 
ing that we might be prepared to expect al- 


NINETEENTH CENTUKY. 


91 

most anything else to follow this premonition 

There was another curious circumstance 
about the change thus made in this room. It 
was only one of many which had taken place 
there from time to time, and yet no material 
of any kind had ever been brought here by 
visible means since the summer when the me- 
chanics had finished sealing the upper story 
from the outside world; neither had there been 
any artisans, in the body, who had sought ad- 
mission from the keeper since that time. Oc- 
casionally between the full-moon periods he 
had thought at times there were signs of mo- 
tion, noises, etc., in these mysteriously closed 
rooms, but sagely reasoning that it was no 
concern of his, he wisely kept silence, and 
made no investigation. But whatever the seven 
willed to be done here, was always surely done. 

The preliminary exercises have been finished, 
and the seven are seated in their order accord- 
ing to their numbers. The light, previously 
mentioned, is elevated and piercing. 

The presiding brother turns to the professor, 
and says: “Let us commence; you may oper- 
ate, and we will assist.” The hands are folded, 
the chin drops upon the breast, and a silence 
in which the pulsating of the blood in its flow 
through the heart becomes an audible sound, 


92 


A WITCH OF THE 


presses down closer and closer. No motion, 
not even the breathing, gave the slightest 
token that these were other than statues. 

At the first assumption of this position, the 
great glass globe seemed to cloud up a little in 
its interior; the filmy mistiness became thicker 
and thicker, moulding itself into human form, 
until the likeness of one of Elsie’s fellow-stu- 
dents, above the waist, was visible, appeared as 
if imprsioned in this huge sphere. When the 
figure had become fully defined, a voice, cleav- 
ing the silence as the bow of the ship cleaves 
the waters, said: “Take thy place as a free 
soul, and answer as thou seest.” 

Hardly had the words made themselves audi- 
ble when the figure, disappearing from the 
globe, stood at full length on the pedestal of 
onyx, a misty, gray drapery falling from the 
shoulders to the feet. Here, standing quite 
still, the Sin Laeca answered questions — not of 
her own volition nor of her own knowledge, 
but from such perception as came to her on 
the astral plane when thus liberated from the 
body, and in full contact with the astral cur- 
rents. At last the shadowy form was dis- 
missed, and at once faded out into nothing- 
ness. In a similar manner, one after another, 
all the members of the class were called, and 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 93 

all responded with a single exception. Nor 
did there seem to be any particular design or 
plan in the calling, save the experience of the 
experiment, for nothing of import was con- 
veyed by either question or answer. 

But now minutes elapsed and no sign of 
substance appeared, either within the globe or 
on the onyx pedestal. Then suddenly, throb- 
bing in the intense silence, comes a musical 
sound such as we have mentioned once before. 
The note of vibration increases in its expres- 
sion of power, grows stronger and stronger, 
and still there is no response, and now there 
comes a sudden hush; words seem to formu- 
la, te themselves in the air — words of awful 
meaning. It is such an adjuration as the an- 
cient record tells us Jesus the Christ, the Son 
of Grod, could not resist, but obeyed. Hardly 
had the words ceased to tremble on the air 
when a pillar of cloud rested on the pedestal 
of onyx, not coming, as the other shapes had, 
through the great globe, but, disdaining bonds, 
had fulfilled its obligation. The cloud slowly 
settled into the proportions of a tall, majes- 
tically-formed man, whose presence could 
never be mistaken for any less than the Mas- 
ter it was. No sooner had it become fully 
visible than, with a look of sternness upon its 


94 


A WITCH OF THE 


face, and eyes that scintillated like burning 
coals, taking into its glance, seemingly, the 
eyes of all the seven at once, it uttered a single 
prolonged word. The sound was strange and 
most weird in its effect; it was not loud, 
but was as piercing and distinct as if it had 
been. It had a remote cadence, but was as 
forceful as if pronounced near at hand. The 
effect of the sound was startingly wonderful, 
for on the instant there stood beside each chair 
a form similar to the one at ease in the center. 

“Why have ye disquieted me to bring me 
hither? Have ye forgotten the terms of the 
compact with which ye w T ere obligated in the 
Great Temple, or are ye of mind to forswear 
yourselves? Ye know whatsoever the neo- 
phyte or the initiate may perceive on the 
astral plane because of the limitations, may be 
reported to whom they will; but nothing, not 
even the smallest jot or title, once given in 
charge of the Hierophant, can ever be commu- 
nicated. Ye have erred in that ye have failed 
to seek wisdom with your usual discretion. 
By the obligation of the Brotherhood, I de- 
mand release from the power of your wills, 
which these many days has been overshadow- 
ing me; otherwise will the penality of the vio- 
lators of compact rest upon you.” 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


95 


As one man, the shapes replied: “We have 
erred, and we withdraw from all interference 
with you, both now and in the future. We 
hear and witness your words.” 

A moment of intense darkness ensued, and 
nothing remained visible save the furnishing 
of the room, as at the first, and the seated 
forms of the Seven. 


9G 


A WITCH OF THE 


CHAPTER XH. 

O T had been a warm day in the early part 
of August, and Elsie had been helping 
her mother about the household duties, 
for when at home she never allowed her 
mother to traverse alone the necessary round 
of routine work that pertains to every home. 
They were now, as ever, companions. Elsie’s 
schooling instead of putting her beyond her 
mother, had only increased the daughter’s 
affection. Their relationship had become like 
that of two sisters, only Elsie took the place 
of the elder. It was very beautiful, and the 
best of it was its reality. There was no need 
of any pretence whatever between these two. 
The day of which we speak had brought with 
it more than the usual amount of cares, as the 
summer days often will to the farmers’ wives 
and daughters. When night came the rest of 
i^leep was most welcome to all. 

The house had been finished according to 
the original plan. Everything about it had 
been well-built, and of the best materials ob- 
tainable. The farm was kept up to its high- 
est point of production; it not only furnished 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


97 


a living, but a constantly increasing surplus 
that, by its prudent investment, had made 
Thomas Holmes a member of the most inde- 
pendent class in the world — a wealthy farmer. 
Nor had the wealth flowing to them in any 
sense made them penurious, for unostenta- 
tiously their helpful hands lightened the bur- 
dens of the sick and suffering all about them. 
None had bitter words for them. Their warm 
friends were many and true. 

But because the old homestead had been 
fully completed, Elsie’s chamber was in the 
second story on the northeast corner. It was 
a large, square room, and diagonally opposite 
from her parents’ room in the southwest corner. 

On the night of which we now speak, some- 
what fatigued by the duties of the day, she 
had retired early. As she disrobed, the light 
of the full-moon in the eastern sky fully 
lighted her chajnber. Two large windows 
with inside blinds, looked toward the east. 
One of the windows opened near the head 
of the bed, but the blinds were closed, al- 
though the window itself was open; but the 
other near the foot of the bed admitted 
through the open blinds the full light of the 
moon. Elsie, finally having put away or 
folded up the day’s belongings, lay down. 


08 


A WITCH OF THE 


in thought, thankfully for the expression of 
But the feeling of fatigue, at the first, possess- 
ing her had vanished, and a feeling of quiet 
self-possession had come in its place. So 
she lay looking at the moonlight as it reflected 
against the background of blackness beyond. 
Suddenly a luminous form seemed to disen- 
tangle itself from the light, and approaching 
a few paces toward Elsie, said: 

“There are those who desire knowledge, 
reckless and careless of harm to thee. They 
will soon call thee. Whatsoever the past 
permits will be done. Thou hast no need 
of fear, for the bond of obligation is two- 
fold in its operation. It also restrains while 
it impels; no brother can harm another when 
once he is made known as such. Rest thou 
free of all infirmities of thy present incar- 
nation, for thy present form will in no sense 
hamper thy action; moreover, the time has 
come when the strength of the incarnation 
on the physical plane will stand thee in 
good stead for the reinforcing of that which 
has now come to thee out of the centuries.” 

Elsie, accustomed all her life to strange 
occurrences, was not even startled by this dis- 
play, although not comprehending its full im- 
port, and to the quiet, assuring tones replied, 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


09 


interest in her welfare. Then she lapsed into 
the unconsciousness of rest, from which she 
thought she was wakened by a strain of 
music. It seemed to be a prolonged sound, 
keyed on the note fa. So strong and well- 
sustained is this strain in its far-reaching ca- 
dence that nothing, animate or inanimate, 
could in anywise resist the call of power. 

Elsie’s sleep deepens; the breathing grows 
slower and slower; there are none to see nor 
save. Just above the form, recumbent in like 
position and shadowed in the atmosphere as 
solids are shadowed in clear water, appears a 
perfect duplicate of the body resting beneath. 
Tli is shadow, the astral body, assumes a stand- 
ing posture, and as it does so a singular transi- 
tion has passed over it. 

It is in no manner a likeness of Elsie, but a 
strong, vigorous man, with the face of one who 
had suffered and won. It was a face of set 
purpose and conscious potency. The body 
was clad in priestly robes. A line of light 
passes from the brain of the sleeper through 
the heart of the double, and reaches far to the 
east. The vibration of sound continues. The 
light pulsates in response and harmony, and 
the astral form glides away along the direct 
ray of call. 


100 


A WITCH OF THE 


What its adventures were, we have detailed 
in a previous chapter. 

While these events were transpiring a thun- 
derstorm was brooding in the southwest, and 
its low, muttering growl had awakened the 
mother who crossed over into Elsie’s room, to 
see if all was ready to receive the coming- 
storm As she stepped over the threshold, 
with her eyes fixed on the semi-darkness in 
which the daughter lay, she perceived with the 
cpiick intuition of a sensitive, the ray of light 
attached to Elsie’s brain. Hardly had the 
sight been realized when a tall, majestic figure 
appeared over the sleeper, for just an instant, 
stopped, smiled kindly upon the mother, who 
felt a strange, cordial uplifting under the in- 
fluence of the recognition. Then the figure 
seemed to dissolve into the single thread of 
light which now did not extend beyond the 
chamber wall, and finally was indrawn into the 
sleeper. All this took place far more rapidly 
than it can be written. When the mother 
reached the side of the couch and bent over the 
daughter, her breathing had grown deep and 
normal, a slight flush overspread the fair face, 
and a little moisture upon the forehead was all 
that gave any token of the sympathy of the 
physical in the awful struggle on the unseen 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


101 


planes in which the unwillingly summoned had 
answered the obligation that forever binds, 
and frustrated evil because selfish intent, being- 
able so to do, on account of the accumulating 
soul-force of the mighty Ego, now inspiring 
this personality. 

The good mother was enough of a proficient 
in the understanding of hidden things as not 
to be startled at the vision, nor to seek to wake 
Elsie from her sound sleep. She moved quietly 
about the room, making everything safe 
against the storm which now, blinding flash 
upon flash, with a continuous peal of thunder, 
spread over the whole skv, while great rushes 
of wind in equal gusts shook the house to its 
foundations. This was the direct result of the 
unbalancing of vibrations by the interjection 
of the power of the human will as manifested 
at the point where the seven were met. The 
challenge, the reply and the short, sharp con- 
flict had changed polarity and upset vibrations, 
culminating in the storm sweeping so violently 
and rapidty from the southwest to the north- 
east along the direct track pursued by the 
journey in the astral form. 

Man little realizes how far the tornadoes 
and cyclones upon the earth are due to his 
frenzies of passion, emotion and selfish desires; 


102 


A WITCH OF THE 


but their failure to perceive it, does not destroy 
the truth of the fact. The vibration of a sin- 
gle thought makes its mark on the surround- 
ings; how much more, then, when there is any 
degree of concentration or united action ? 

In the morning the storm had subsided and 
left its freshening force on all the surround- 
ings. Elsie came down to breakfast happy and 
cheerful as usual, but inclined to be a little 
absent-minded. Her mother rallied her and 
her father joked her, all of which she took 
in the kind spirit it was intended, and finally 
said: 

“Mother,! had a strange dream last night.' ” 

“Indeed,” said the mother, suppressing her 
curiosity; “but thouTt always having dreams, 
Elsie; what was there queer about this?’’ 

“It seemed so real,” replied the girl; “it 
can’t be shaken off, try as I will, but it is just 
as strong on my mind as anything that hap- 
pened yesterday; but I’ll tell it to you, and yon 
can judge, but I can’t give you any idea how 
real it seems to me. 

“ It seemed as if I was myself, and vet some- 
body else very much older and stronger than I, 
and that I was standing in my room upstairs 
when I heard some one at a distance call me. 
It was not by the name you call me, but some 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 1015 

name I never heard before, and yet I recog- 
nized it as belonging to me. More than that, 
it seemed as if I must answer the call because I 
had promised to. You know I never did make 
such an absurd promise to anybody. 

“ I was wondering how I would get to the 
caller, when I felt as if I was moving through 
the air very swiftly without any effort of my 
own. All this time there was a strange feel- 
ing of being double, and that the ‘other one’ 
was doing and I only consenting, a kind of 
echo in word and thought and action, and also 
a feeling as if I were many thousands of years 
old, and knew almost everything, and if I would 
only stop to think about it a minute, I could 
tell to man the greatest secrets, such as how to 
make gold, how to fly, how to live until you 
wanted to die. More than that, it appeared that 
I was one of a great many thousands — I thought 
I heard a voice say 144,000, who were pledged 
by the most solemn obligation to help each 
other in and at all times and places whatsoever. 
I remembered, too, that this oath never could 
be put aside, but was always binding whether 
one was living or dead.” 

Elsie had said all this as if speaking for an- 
other and not herself, and her father and 
mother looked on as usual, wonderingly; but at 


104 


A WITCH OF THE 


this point she lost that impelled appearance, 
and went on more like herself: 

“All this happened at the same time with 
my journey, and in a great deal less time than 
I am telling it, it was accomplished. Like a 
change in dreams I saw a house, which I en- 
tered. No sooner had I done that than I felt 
as if some invisible mantle was thrown about 
me, whose effect would be the loss of my own 
will-power. Indignant and determined, I 
used my utmost force in resistance, and freed 
myself from the danger menacing me, and as 
I felt myself thus freed, 1 found 1 was stand- 
ing on a platform of some curious marble in 
which there were dark, bloody lines running 
through a ground of a soft flesh-color. Not 
only did it have the tint, but it also had the 
warmth of the living flesh, and the peculiar 
magnetic sensation always felt to a greater or 
less degree in the touch of the human body. 
It was to all intents as if I were standing on 
somebody. No sooner had my feet touched 
this than a thrill passed upward from them to 
my head, giving me a self-possession and as- 
surance and perfect freedom from fear. Be- 
fore me in a half-circle sat seven persons. As 
I looked at them, I saw they were all wise and 
strong. But on their long white robes blazed 




NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


105 


a five-pointed star, with two points up and 
one point down. I knew by this that they 
had perverted their gifts and wisdom to selfish 
personal uses, and, therefore, had become 
Black Magicians. 

“ Standing stretched to my utmost height, I 
pronounced some word that I cannot now re- 
call. At the sound of it, each of the seven 
stepped out of their bodies, and became as I 
was. I then made a speech to them. I can 
feel the thrill of the words I said now ”■ — here 
a visible shudder passed over her — “ only I 
don’t remember what they were. But the 
seven did not seem to make any objection, 
only acknowledging what I said to be true, and 
then I don’t remember anything until I found 
myself once more in bed, and daylight shin- 
ing in, it all seemed so real.” 

“Perhaps it was, lass,” said the mother. “ I 
am not sure if thou’rt in the body all last 
night or not.” 

The father said naught, but pondered all 
the more deeply. 


106 


A WITCH OF THE 


CHAPTER XIII. 

\ y / HEN the vacation was over, Elsie 
V V went back to school to spend another 
two years. The professor, of whom we have 
spoken, did not have charge of her classes in 
any study of these latter years of the course, 
so she did not come so closely in contact with 
him. But their relations to each other seemed 
changed, for the old man looked up to her 
with a quiet deference whenever they chanced 
to meet. Nor was there any attempt made to 
renew the old meetings or experiments. It 
seemed as if there were a tacit understanding 
to put the matter away, hy all who had there 
essayed to try their flight into the awful re- 
gions and shadows of the unseen. 

The rest of her course was uneventful until 
the Commencement exercises. Because of her 
ability, her meritorious conduct and her 
scholarly record, she was made the valedic- 
torian of her class. Her paper had been care- 
fully prepared, and had been approved by the 
faculty. Its subject was u Woman’s Freedom.” 

The day had come with all its hopes and 
fears, anticipations and realities. The class, 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


107 


instead of dressing in the usual white draperies, 
as if they were literary corpses, and followed 
Elsie’s voice and example, and each selected 
colors harmonizing with their own. The 
stuffs were of soft texture, and made plainly 
and fittingly. The effect was that of a bou- 
quet of lovely flowers as they grouped on the 
stage. 

Elsie’s dress was of a peach-bloom, modeled 
in its folds after the antique, with a single red 
rose fastened at the neck. The exercises had 
been of the most satisfactory and successful 
character. The diplomas had all been awarded, 
and every one of the great audience watched 
eagerly for the coming of the simple name, 
Elsie Holmes, who had, without envy, been 
awarded by her fellows and teachers the high- 
est honors of the day. 

Her father and mother, plain -looking peo- 
ple, were in the auditorium, anxious with love’s 
care, their darling should do well. As she 
came upon the stage her perfect ease and self- 
possession was noticeable. Her paper was in 
her hand, as is the custom. The first two or 
three words were of address, and the voice 
seemed gauging the size of the space to be 
filled. As her first sentence was completed, 
not a person in the whole audience failed to 


108 


A WITCH OF THE 


hear the concluding words, and from that 
time to the end of the discourse her strong, 
flexible tones filled the whole hall with their 
clear, bird-like utterances. 

The first few sentences were read from her 
paper, but here laying her paper upon the 
small reading stand on the stage, she seemed 
to go on from memory. Her statement of the 
enthrallment of part of the race, differentiated 
from the other part for purpose, was startling 
in its earnest portrayal and pathetic in its de- 
tails. It was the sketching of a master hand. 
Tears and smiles alternated in the audience, 
and occasionally the house shook with the 
unwonted thunders of applause. Never in all 
the history of the institution had such an 
event occurred before. 

Picture the scene; a hall crowded until 
there was not standing-room, every one lis- 
tening as if life itself depended on catching 
every intonation; upon the stage a girlish 
figure, from whom, as from a master in ora- 
tory, poured a stream of fiery eloquence, plead- 
ing for her sex, the mothers, wives and sis- 
ters whom the vibrations of the lower on the 
physical plane had crushed into slavery with- 
out its privileges of responsibility. The essay 
of a scliool-girl had become, by some strange 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 109 

transmutation, the oration of a wonderful in- 
tellect. In closing she said: 

“ The duties which make up the lives of the 
man and the woman, are complements each of 
the other; they are always on the same plane. 
As we who are here present are now Ameri- 
cans, so we, the same egos, were in the long 
ages of the past Atlantians, Egyptians and 
East Indians. As we all are now, either man 
or woman, so have all our egos in the past 
been subjected to the discipline of both forms 
of manifestation* Who shall say, then, to 
the wearer of a winter or summer dress that 
this or that is inferior, when both serve 
equally well? I see in the near future a dawn- 
ing perception of the truth that the same is 
equal to itself. Woman is man’s equal, his 
comrade, and not his inferior.” 

Thus she closed, while round after round of 
applause filled the house. Turning to her 
schoolmates, her words of inspiration, hope 
and energy left their impression upon every 
member of the class, an impress that made it- 
self felt through all succeeding life. 

Addressing the faculty, who had been as- 
tonished at this sudden unfoldment before 
their eyes of occult power, she tendered them 
in such form as it had never come before, for 


no 


A WITCH OF THE 


herself and fellows, the sincere thanks of all 
whose growth and development they had 
fostered. 

Then the great organ pealed for the closing 
anthem; the audience was dismissed. As 
Elsie stood chatting with her father, mother 
and some of her friends, while waiting for the 
great crowd to disperse, several strangers 
sought introduction to Elsie. 

Among these were a widow lady and her 
son, a young man of some twenty-three years 
of age. The mother, herself a worker in the 
cause of woman’s independence, came to 
thank Elsie for her brilliant appeal to the jus- 
tice of the world for her sex. 

The young man shook hands on being in- 
troduced, and a quick, flashing glance passed 
from eye to eye. The introduction in the 
outer was accomplished, but they had no need 
in the real and inner for an introduction. 
Again was Dickens’ aphorism proved: “And 
thus ever, by day and night, under the sun 
and under the stars, climbing the dusky hills, 
and toiling along the weary plains, journeying 
by land and journeying by sea, coming and 
going so strangely to meet and to act and re- 
act on one another, move all restless travelers 
through the pilgrimage of life.” 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


Ill 


The mother, Mrs. Glenham, asked Elsie to 
visit her home near Milwaukee during the 
summer. To this, Elsie consented provis- 
ionally, leaving details for after arrangement. 
The next day found Elsie with her father and 
mother on their way to their western home. 

“ Elsie, lass, when did thee learn thy big 
speech?” asked the father. 

u But I did not learn anything,” said Elsie; 
41 it all spoke itself. I did not know what I 
was saying; it seemed to be somebody else all 
the time. But if you all liked it, wasn’t it 
better than if I should have read just a pros}^ 
paper?” 

And so that matter was closed, to be remem- 
bered and talked of by those who were imme- 
diate participants in the scene, and as surely 
and slowly to be forgotten, as the days went 
by. There was one point that must be noticed 
in passing; that was the very little exhaustion 
attending this effort, marking the difference of 
the awakening of the higher self, the potency 
of the plastic mind; and the obsession or pos- 
session of a feebler soul by overshadowing 
force. 

So Elsie found herself once more at home 
amongst her neighbors and friends. The in- 
cidents of the graduation day got to their ears 


112 


A WITCH OF THE 


in a modified way, but they were not surprised, 
for as a friend said: “You might always ex- 
pect Elsie to be queer, although she is as nice 
and good a girl as ever lived.” This was the 
universal testimony. Thus she held her sta- 
tion, beloved by all, doing the duties that laid 
nearest her. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


113 


CHAPTER XIV. 

O N a few days came a note from Mrs. 
Clenham, repeating her, invitation, and 
fixing the time for the, last of August. 
As there was nothing to prevent, and her 
parents had no objection, only a little feeling 
of loss in having her away from home, Elsie 
accepted the invitation, and on the appointed 

day took the cars for R — , Mrs. Clenham V 

residence, where the delightful situation of the 
house and grounds, located within sight of the 
ever-moving lake, brought to Elsie a new sen- 
sation which was very enjoyable indeed. 

Young Air. Clenham was very attentive. 
There were long carriage-drives, and moon- 
light sails in a trim little yacht, and readings and 
talks of mornings in the library of the man- 
sion. It was a new experience, but one which 
she received easily, and without confusion, for 
great souls are not easily discomposed by the 
accidents of the outer life, but assimilate 
readily their alloted quota, without regard to 
the remainder. 

In this instance the course of true love for 
once, seemed about to run smoothly. A few 


114 


A WITCH OF THE 


days before her visit was to terminate, the three 
were sitting in the library. They had been 
talking of the prehistoric conditions of that 
part of the country, and wondering what its 
future would be. The full moon shone in, 
sending a brilliant flood of light through the 
library windows. 

As it happened, the three were sitting in a 
triangle, through the base of which came the 
moonlight, striking the floor about the center 
of the figure, Elsie’s position being at the apex, 
the son to the right and the mother to the 
left. Through the window could be seen the 
expanse of the great lake, whose surface, 
kissed by the dancing evening zephyr, broke 
up into thousands of facets, each reflecting 
the light of the queen of night. It was a per- 
fect night, Elsie had said, with a great deal of 
earnestness: 

“ Why do the dead hold back from us their 
knowledge, when it might be of service to us?” 

To this sentiment assent had been made by 
the others, when from above them, in far-off in- 
tonation, but clear and distinct, came the words: 

“ Because the living refuse to hear that 
which is offered to them.” 

Startled a little, but not surprised, because 
like all advanced minds, Mrs. C. and her son 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 115 

were both familiar with the slowly unfolding 
forms of communications with the unseen, 
they waited in respectful silence to hear or see 
the outcome. Suddenly their attention was 
attracted by a luminous spot upon the floor 
where the moonlight struck it. It did not 
seem to be brighter than the rest of the light, 
but simply to have more substance to it. 
Quickly this grew, and expanded as a whirling 
column of the height and figure of a tall and 
well-formed man. Then the motion stopped, 
and a messenger from the invisible stood in 
their presence. 

Elsie reclining in her easy chair, did not 
seem conscious of her surroundings. 

The hostess, with her usual grave kindness, 
said: 

“ Who are you, and why have you come to 
see us?” 

“ I am one of the temple-dwellers of the 
long centuries ago. I come partly for your in- 
struction and partly for my own pleasure. Hold 
thyself without fear in the critical moment, 
and mayhap something may come to thee and 
thine of advantage.” 

“You are most truly welcome, ’’ was Mrs. 
C.’s reply, for she was a woman of a peculiarly 
fearless nature. She often said: “I do not 


116 A WITCH OF THE 

know what the word fear means.” “Say on, 
sir, we are attentive to your message, and will 
surely heed your instruction.” 

“ The great city that stands on the edge of 
the waters was preceded by one mightier and 
larger than the inhabitants of the present city 
have ever dreamed of. To the north along the 
sea dwelt many men mighty in wisdom, who 
knew how to use unseen elemental forces for 
their own will and pleasure. When their sel- 
fish desires at last brought disaster upon them, 
they. left the elementals chained to the spot. 
Among them was a tribe of powerful fire 
spirits. These have once broken loose from 
their prison, and many at that time escaped 
for good and the whole world knows of the 
damage they inflicted. The remainder are 
likely to escape from their bondage at any 
time, not only in the city of Dan, but in Beer- 
sheba, or any point in the whole country be- 
tween. This city, in which so many element 
tals have been chained and harnessed in iron 
and steel and brass, so long as their harness 
shall repress and hold the dread energy of the 
mighty ones, will prosper, but their keepers 
must be careful and vigilant, or in an unre- 
garded moment the fierce, the merciless, will 
be in control. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


117 


“Now as to thy own immediate concerns: 
If the young man, thy son, shall desire to fol- 
low the physical law of thy social order and 
take the woman to wife it is well, for they 
were dear friends of the old times. The an- 
cient ties will not be broken whatever happens 
in the outer. But he must not expect service 
from her as runs your law, nor undivided atten- 
tion. If he desires, let him plight his faith before 
she leaves this dwelling, to be soon followed by 
consummation. Then let the marriage jour- 
ney be toward the southwest, where some- 
thing of importance awaits them, as one or 
she alone. Obey the law, and peace be thine. ’’ 

So saying he seemed to become absorbed in 
the moonlight still brilliantly shining in the 
room. ” 

The group moved not for several minutes, 
then Elsie gave a little shudder and gasp, 
with a lialf-suppressed exclamation: 

“Why, Mrs. Clenham, have I been asleep? 
But I had a beautiful dream. I thought I 
was standing right out there, 1 ' and she pointed 
to the spot where the figure had stood, “ but 
1 had on somebody’s dress that did not quite 
fit me. 1 saw such a great furnace of fire, 
and it seemed so hot. Then it seemed as if 1 
was down among great stretches of cactus, 


118 


A WITCH OF THE 


and green groves where oranges and figs and 
all kinds of tropical fruits grew wild, and 
there were large buildings, some of them cut 
out of solid stone, and I could see into the 
mountains, and everything inside of them 
was as plain as if it was on the outside. I 
could see, also, the big veins of gold and sil- 
ver and other metals. It sounded to me as if 
somebody said: ‘ These are yours for use, un- 
der direction. Will you accept the trust?’ 
But before I could answer, everything seemed 
to fade.” 

“ Well, that is as astonishing as the rest of 
it,’’ and Mrs. Clenliam told Elsie what she and 
Arthur had seen. 

“ What is your idea, Mrs. Clenliam, of the 
method in which materializations occur, and 
why should I go to sleep? If any of those 
mysterious things happen, I generally do, and 
lose them all.” 

“ So far as I have had a chance to investi- 
gate the subject, I believe all writers of both 
the far East and West concur it the statement 
that the astral body of the sensitive is pro- 
jected as plastic substance, and the strong 
thought or desire of those present, either visi- 
ble or invisible, forms itself thereon, as the 
light forms itself into a picture on the sensi- 


NINETEENTH CENTURY 119 

tive photograph plate. The sitters thus may 
each get back a response for themselves in ac- 
cordance with their own wishes, no two hav- 
ing seen the same form any more than they 
can see the same rainbow, a thing by the law 
of optics utterly impossible. In other cases 
the astral body personates nobody but itself, 
and being in touch with the flow of universal 
thought currents, and in possession for the 
time being of all the knowledge acquired dur- 
ing many lives, can recall the past and pre- 
dict the future. But it is a question concern- 
ing the most subtle, delicate and elusive ele- 
ment in nature, belonging to the invisible and 
spiritual, of which our tive senses have no cer- 
tain knowledge. What little comes to us by 
way of perception is the result of the already 
slowly developing sixth sense, that must be- 
long to the Sixth Race, which are slowly drop- 
ping in among us in the recognized sensitives 
of the present day. These scattered person- 
alities are the advance couriers of the mighty 
army who will soon possess the earth.” 

Here she stopped, saying: “ Well, I have 
made quite a preachment. This may not be 
correct, but it seems fairly reasonable to me, 
and has the support of a good many strong 
thinkers.” 


120 


A WITCH OF THE 


“ I am much obliged,’’ said Elsie. 44 1 feel a 
great many things to be true that I cannot ex- 
plain, and I believe you are right.’’ 

The evening before Elsie went home, she 
and Arthur went out on the lake alone, and 
there, under auspicious surroundings, and be- 
cause the stars willed it, they pledged their 
mutual troth after the manner of friends who 
seek a lifelong comradeship, without any of 
the effervescence which, coming solely from 
the physical, born in a moment, dying within 
an hour, so often leaves the heart’s best affec- 
tions stranded for the whole of the succeeding 
life on the earth-plane. They were both of 
age; they understood the true mating to be of 
the soul, and that sex was entirely a property 
of the physical, was a differentiation, a mark 
set on Cain, the Fifth Race, that it should not 
perish from the earth. All this they accepted 
as an inevitable legacy, and not as the begin- 
ning and end of married life. It is this last 
view which makes it man’s error and woman’s 
dishonor. 

Their compact was, however, conditioned 
and subject to ratification by the co-ordinate 
powers of both houses. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


121 


CHAPTER XV. 


Jf 


0 objection to the union was offered by 
Mrs. Clen ham, neither did Elsie’s father 
or mother, later on, offer any strenuous objec- 
tion. While they felt that their daughter had 
no need in the usual meaning to marry, they 
looked upon marriage as honorable, and this 
view was reinforced by their own happy ex- 
perience, and they were satisfied in her choice. 

There being no impediment to the union, it 
was settled that the union should take place 
on October 5, 1876, Elsie’s twenty-first birth- 
day. 


That which was needed to be done was done 
quietly and unostentatiously. The wedding 
took place at the Holmes’ homestead. The 
young people, instead of simply saying “yes” 
to the questions of the officiating clergyman, 
each pledged themselves distinctly to the other 
for all the duties and incidents of the life that 
might come to them while they should walk 
together in this incarnation. Having due re- 
spect for the law that is the foundation of all 
harmony, the necessary legal formalities were 


122 


A WITCH OF THE 


then completed, and the proper authority pro- 
nounced them man and wife. Bound thus hy 
an oath that cannot be escaped from except as 
its conditions are fulfilled, they went forth on 
their wedding trip. 

Influenced by the word of their celestial 
visitant, they were to spend the winter in 
Mexico, and thither lay their journey. They 
made the City of Mexico their headquarters. 
From this point they made excursions to vari- 
ous places in that marvelous country as their 
fancy dictated. They had secured for their 
guide and traveling companion an intelligent 
gentleman, a creole, who, naturally keen and 
quick-witted, had been so much interested in 
the history of his native land that he had be- 
come almost perfectly acquainted with all the 
local traditions, and at the same time he pos- 
sessed that sympathy for occult subjects which 
shows the underlying kinship. 

One day Mr. and Mrs. Clenham had been 
talking of the rumors always rife in Mexico — 
of the great city unapproachable, but some- 
times visible among the mountains of the 
southwest. 

“1 wonder,” said Elsie, “if we could make 
that section of the country a visit? Perhaps 
we could get a dissolving view of it, anyway.” 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 12:5 

“ Well, let ns talk with Jose about it,” re- 
joined Arthur; “ it is certainly worth the while 
to make the effort; and who knows, Elsie, what 
may come of it? 1 ’ 

So when their courier next came for instruc- 
tions they asked him about the mysterious 
city, and if he had ever heard of it. 

“ Si, senor,” shrugging his shoulders; “ many 
a man has seen that city, and started on his 
way to find it. Almost all have lost them- 
selves, and after many days have been glad to 
give up the search, and some, senora," here his 
voice fell almost to a whisper, “ have never been 
heard of afterward .’ 1 

“ Do you know the way toward where it is 
supposed to be?’' asked Elsie. 

“Si, senora; it lies many days 1 journey to 
the southwest among the mountains.” 

“Will you make the necessary preparations 
and guide us toward it as far as we can go?” 
asked Elsie. 

“If the senora really means it, certainly; a 
Spaniard can go wherever a lady might desire 
to go. I will attend you.” 

And so, in a manner, was lightly settled the 
onward movement of an event which of all 
Elsie’s strange experiences was to be the 
strangest and most inexplicable. 


124 


A WITCH OF THE 


Amongst all the native tribes of south- 
western Mexico is rife a legend of a magnifi- 
cent city among the mountains, to which 
strangers are not allowed to find access. Some 
of the most daring of the natives, as well as a 
few of the hardy scouts who find the West 
and the Southwest such genial soil for their 
work and adventures, have climbed high upon 
the mountain peaks, and from thence have 
viewed the glories and beauties of a city lying 
upon a wide spreading plateau or table land, 
with an immense rock-temple on one side, a 
vast lake in the center, and innumerable build- 
ings of stone, all shut in and rendered per- 
fectly inaccessible by an immense wall of lofty 
mountain peaks. The people who dwell there 
have no particular knowledge of the world we 
know, nor desire to mingle with it. Those 
who from the outer seek admittance are 
baffled and misled in their effort to gain access. 

When one of the natives of this city seeks 
to investigate the other parts of the world, if 
overborne by his eager curiosity, he is first 
warned what the consequence will be. If still 
insisting, he is allowed to go forth and pro- 
nounce upon himself a sentence of banish- 
ment during the remaining period of his earth- 
life, under pledge of secrecy as to his native 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


125 


city, returning only when the body should be 
laid aside. The people who dwell here have 
attained marvelous knowledge of the spirit 
forces and their uses on the plane of matter. 
Governed by the fixed laws of nature, they are 
quietly waiting for the time when they will be 
forced to take part in the restoration of the 
waste places of the earth, aud their rebuilding 
and their uplifting to that condition of har- 
mony and peace designed by the Infinite 
thought. 

It was toward this city Elsie was now 
called in the invisible, and impelled by the 
action of forces she had herself set in motion 
many thousands of years ago. But let us not 
anticipate. 

Their preparations were fully made, the 
party consisting of three young men, with 
Elsie and her husband, and a half-dozen at- 
tendants set out. Whatever the courier had 
deemed necessary to provide for the excursion 
he had been supplied carte blanche for. 

They were to go on horseback, by easy 
stages, while their belongings were carried on 
burros, the serviceable little donkeys of that 
country. 

Without particular arrangement, the first 
start was made so that at the first camp the 


A WITCH OF THE 


126 

new moon hung low over the setting sun. 

Their course lay south of west toward the 
mountains and mountainous country border- 
ing on the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Their daily 
routine was: Travel from sunrise to the noon 
hour, then a two hours 1 siesta; after that, in 
the lengthening shadows, they traveled on un- 
til about an hour of sunset, when they would 
camp for the night. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


127 


CHAPTER XVI. 


N the tenth day out they reached a very 



l^J high altitude. For the three days pre- 


vious they had been constantly ascend- 
ing the foot-hills, and during all this time 
they had seen no Indians, although they had 
been specially warned of the ugly temper of 
these tribes by their acquaintances before they 
started, and had now for several days been 
passing through territory noted for the un- 
ceremonious familiarity of the natives. Not- 
withstanding all this, they had met with 
neither trouble nor hindrance from this source. 
On the night now mentioned, they had halted 
for the purpose of going into camp. An ex- 
clamation from Jose called the attention of all 
the party. Looking to his eager face, and then 
in the direction of his outstretched huger, 
they saw something in a far-off valley that 
looked like houses. The sun’s declination was 
such as to show the structures to the best ad- 
vantage. The use of field-glasses by the party 
soon convinced them that the wonderful un- 
known city was before them. 

A careful examination revealed that it was 


128 


A WITCH OF THE 


regularly laid out in streets and peopled with 
a race who evidently knew something about 
civilization. 

The houses were of stone, and were sur- 
rounded by yards in which could be discerned 
growing flowers and shrubs. On all sides 
were evidences of taste in the inhabitants. 

The location of the city seemed to be in a 
vast amphitheatre that could only be reached, 
if at all, by a long, narrow defile from the 
west, leading into the mountains from the 
Pacific coast side. From the size, it might be 
inferred to contain between 5,000 and 0,000 in- 
habitants. 

Taking accurately their bearings from a 
compass, they went into camp and waited 
eagerly for the dawn. Their apparently ob- 
jectless journey had suddenly received a mighty 
impulse toward a definite conclusion. 

At the first dawning, the whole company 
was astir, and as the light grew stronger the 
field-glasses were anxiously turned again upon 
this wonderful spot, but owing to the position 
of the sun the view was not as distinct as the 
night previous. Still it did not diminish in 
size, nor vanish as a mirage. So soon as break- 
fast could be finished camp was struck, and 
they started full of hope of being able to 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 129 

reach this wonder of the American continent. 

To their surprise and pleasure the defiles 
seemed to be easier to travel over and the 
roughness of the broken ways not so trouble- 
some as they had been at first; all things 
seemed to help them in their effort to move 
toward the nameless city. For three days* 
they advanced steadily on the course indicated 
by their compass without getting another 
sight of the place they sought. Most of the 
route was made at such low levels as to give 
no further chance for a distant view. 

On the noon of the thirteenth day from the 
City of Mexico, they stopped for their siesta. 
All the morning they had been traveling 
through a narrow canon, on each side of 
which impassable, rocky barriers held them to 
their course, while a small stream ran along 
one side of the rough and rocky path that con- 
stantly ascended at an angle of from 15 to 25 
degrees. No green thing grew here, for the 
sun never reached down into its twilight 
depths. There was no attraction in it for man 
or animal, and besides this was a feeling of 
awesomeness which even the strongest minded 
of the party could not shake off, and it was 
with the utmost difficulty they could compel 
the attendants to move forward; but this they 


130 


A WITCH OF THE 


finally did, although with much crossing of 
themselves, and muttered prayers to the vir- 
gin mother for safety and help. It was as if 
invisible sentries held the way, and constantly 
challenged their right to proceed. At last the 
defile broadened out upon a plateau of some 
quarter of an acre in extent. Here, on the 
farther side from the entrance, a bleak preci- 
pice lifted itself squarely up between two and 
three hundred feet. It was absolutely inac- 
cessible; no cleft nor crevice appeared in the 
cold, hard quartz; nor was there shrub nor 
plant to give vantage nor hold, on all its sur- 
face. To the right and left the ground was 
of such formation that there was no way in 
sight by which this mighty wall of rock could 
be flanked. From the junction of the preci- 
pice and the surface of the plateau a stream 
of clear, sparkling water gushed forth, skirted 
the edge, and lost itself in the canon. 

Here in an absolute solitude they prepared 
for rest first, and, after consultation, to do 
whatever might be thought best. The sur- 
face of the plateau was arable; there was quite 
a growth of grass. The animals were hob- 
bled and turned out to graze, while the re- 
mainder of the party, after a light repast and 
indulgence in their cigarettes, concluded to 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 131 

divide themselves into scouting parties to ex- 
plore the immediate neighborhood, and ascer- 
tain if there was any other path or mode of 
egress, save where they had entered. So after 
fixing up a shelter-tent for Elsie, they scat- 
tered, with the understanding that they should 
all return by subset. 

So Elsie and the animals were left alone. 
The shadows of the cliff hung lower and lower 
and the sun dropped farther and farther down 
on its western course. There seemed to be a 
peculiar fascination to her in gazing up the 
side of the cliff, it was so immense, so strong. 
Watching the descending line of shade, she 
noticed all at once a little bunch of green. 
Wondering, she had looked so long at that part 
of the bare rock without having perceived the 
patch of vivid color on that bare, bleak outline, 
she rubbed her eyes and looked sgain. Now 
a brilliant, crimson blossom nestled invitingly 
in the foliage. Astonished, with almost a 
child’s eagerness and impulsiveness, she started 
forward to attempt to gather the prize. On 
close approach, two or three knob-like pro- 
jections afforded her foothold. Light and sure 
of foot she soon reached and plucked the 
flower. As she did so, and rose from a stoop- 
ing posture, a wicket-gate in the side of the 


32 


A WITCH OF THE 


rock opened, disclosing a broad passageway 
within, and a tall, pleasant faced man stand- 
ing at the entrance. Where had she seen him 
before? The impression of the face was dis- 
tinct, but when? Just then a sensation from 
the locket hanging on her neck recalled the 
Avhole, and the scene of her seventh birthday 
in her father’s wood-lot spread before her men- 
tal vision. But this was far more substantial, 
and without any of the eerie ness of that well- 
remembered scene. 

“Yes, it is I, indeed, but I am now in the 
flesh, and not as then in the ‘ astral body.”' 
he said kindly, in answer to her quick, moving 
thought. “We are most glad to welcome 
thee to the Temple of the Brotherhood.” 

“ How shall I know that this is right? 1 ’ de- 
manded Elsie. 

“ By this,” was his reply, and he uttered a 
single syllable. To this the locket added a 
syllable, the brother another, and the locket 
completed the word. 

Elsie seemed, by some recurring knowledge, 
to know that this was correct, and without 
hesitation entered the gate, which closed with- 
out noise behind them. Before them a long, 
broad passage stretched, wide enough to allow 
the two to walk abreast. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


138 


Taking liis place by her side, he said: “You 
have been summoned and led hither, and you 
will be detained here three days/’ 

“ But what of my husband and his party?” 

“ They will be notified, and remain. They 
cannot go hence, as they could not have come 
hither, save by our permission. Make your- 
self easy, for you are where you have rights, 
based on obligation.” 

Leaving Elsie to go forward, let us return to 
the outer. As Mr. Clenham came back to 
camp with his party at the appointed time, he 
at once missed Elsie. Alarmed at her dis- 
appearance, he turned to his friends to say 
something, when, wheeling out of the heights 
beyond the mountain, sailed down a carrier- 
dove. Coming straight to him, it alighted on 
his arm. He saw a letter fastened around its 
neck. This he took from its resting-place. It 
was sealed with yellow wax, with blue charac- 
ters upon it. Mr. Clenham did not break the 
seal, but, with his knife, cut around it, and, 
opening it, read as follows: 

“ Temple of the Guardians of Secrets, and 
Masters of Potency. 

Full moon of the third month, 
14,815 year of the Temple. 

“To him who in loving kindness waits news 
from his comrade, greeting:— Rest quietly 


A WITCH OF THE 


1U 

with thine attendants for three days; at the 
end of that time she shall come to thee. 
Meanwhile she is safely attended within the 
Temple of the forgotten city, whose inhabit- 
ants worship the one Gfod, and growing daily 
in perception, await the unfolding of Time, 
who will make them the teachers of what the 
world so hungers to know. Under the law, 
but one may enter. So the others must wait 
for the fulfillment. Be patient. 

(Signed) Thy Brother.” 

Mr. Clenham had, as we have already seen, 
the fullest confidence in Elsie and the invisi- 
ble, and in the Most Ancient Wise Ones; but 
for all that it was a hard struggle to school 
himself for this task. He did accomplish it, 
however, and on the evening of the third day 
she suddenly stood in the midst of the wait- 
ing company, looking fresh and strong, but 
with anew expression of conscious knowledge, 
such as comes to all who make any effort at 
the unfolding of their spiritual natures. She 
was warmly greeted by her husband and by 
the rest of the company, as if she were one 
risen from the dead. They had all, even the 
humblest peon, become attached to her, for 
her uniform kindness of manner during the 
trip, and were ever ready to serve her to the 
extent of their ability. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


135 


u To-night we rest,” slie said; “to-morrow, 
at dawn, guides will come to us who will show 
us a shorter and easier route home than the 
way we came,” 

When questioned of what she had seen, or 
where she had been, she replied that she had 
been in the cit}q which did really exist. She 
was sure that when these people came out 
from their retreat, the oppression of man by 
his fellowmen, under the pretense of govern- 
ment, would cease forever. However, she re- 
fused to enter into details, putting off the in- 
quirer in such a way that they were in no wise 
hurt, but really felt as if they had become re- 
sponsible partners for the keeping of her 
secrets. 

As the grey mists of morning grew clear, 
two stalwart Indians, mounted on wicked- 
looking little mustangs, rode out of the canon, 
and, making a sign of submission to Elsie, 
waited orders. 

It was not long before the party was ready 
for their homeward route. The guides put 
themselves at the head of the train, and, with 
but little speech, directed its movement. 

The whole journey was uneventful. There 
was nothing to disturb, although moving 
through the country of the most hostile In- 


A WITCH OF THE 


136 

diaii tribes, which, in going out, they had 
made a considerable detour to avoid. On the 
morning of the fifth day they found them- 
selves on the great road leading from the 
south overlooking the fair City of Mexico, 
although it had taken them thirteen days to 
go. Here the guides turned back and left 
them . 

One thing was strange about the whole 
matter. Every member of the entire party 
seemed under some sort of glamor. Old 
woodmen as some of them were, they were 
never able to tell how they came, nor did their 
stories on this point ever agree; nor did they 
appear anxious to return in that direction. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


187 


CHAPTER XVII. 


(^^ETURNED to their lodgings, Elsie 
*\ and her husband rested quietly for 
about a month. Mr. Clenham 
had never asked her about her adventures, 
sure that whatever it was lawful for him to 
know she would tell him when the proper 
time came. 

The evening when the moon fulled again 
they were sitting in their room at the hotel. 
The great waves of light rolled in upon them, 
as sitting side by side they enjoyed a quiet 
chat. 

“Arthur,” said Elsie, “I can tell you to- 
night whatever I may of my visit to the Tem- 
ple, and of all the incidents connected there- 
with. Afterwards, I must forever hold my 
peace on this subject, for such is the law.” 

“You are perfectly free, as you know,” he 
said, “to say or withhold; I have no desire for 
unlawful knowledge.” 

“ Yes, I know,” Elsie hastened to reply, 
“ and it is because you understand, I am al- 
lowed to permit you to help me keep this 
knowledge, so listen.” 


188 


A WITCH OF THE 


Then commencing with her entrance into 
the mountain, and her recognition of her old 
friend already known to the reader, she con- 
tinued: 

“So we went on together for a long dis- 
tance, the floor seemingly rising by a very 
gradual slope until I came to a curious flight 
of steps, which went up three steps to a land- 
ing, then five steps to another landing, and 
then seven steps. These were repeated in this 
order twenty-one times. On the top platform 
we stood just inside of a little window looking- 
out over the city lying before and below. The 
immense plain was mountain-locked by huge 
and precipitous walls of rock that restrained 
those within, equally with warding off those 
from without. Almost in the center of the 
plateau was a great lake, with neither a visible 
inlet nor outlet, but at certain distances about 
the rocky inclosure huge tanks had been hewed 
out of the solid rocks. These were filled through 
earthen pipes with water drawn from the cen- 
tral lake by machinery moved by electricity, 
or some other force of which 1 have no knowl- 
edge. From these tanks the water was drawn 
off to supply the houses and irrigate the soil, 
which, originally sandy, is now blossoming 
with flowers, fruits and vegetables in the 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 131 ) 

greatest profusion. The streets all radiated 
from the lake at the center like the spokes of 
a wheel. The land seemed to be apportioned 
by measure, and the houses were in regular 
order. Never have I Seen, nor do I ever ex- 
pect to see anywhere else, such a scene of 
beauty, harmony and peace. 

“‘You see the type of the coming Sixth 
Race,’ said my friend. 1 Do you think there is 
anything in the outer world that can make us 
any better or happier? ’ 

44 I could make only one reply, and that was 
4 No.’ I thought how woefully unlike this 
was to the outer world as we know it. 

44 4 1 should be pleased to show you the city 
at closer range, but our laws will not permit, 
so you must be content with this, and thus 
know that the resident members of the Broth- 
erhood are performing their part of the mu- 
tual and universal obligation.’ 

44 Turning, finally, from our point of view 
as the sinking sun announced the coming of 
the twilight, he led me to an inner room, 
where he left me for rest and refreshment. 

44 Two most beautiful girls of about twenty 
years of age came to attend me. They un- 
bound and combed my hair, and bathed my 
face, hands and feet in cold water, and then 


140 


A WITCH OF THE 


leaving me lying upon a couch, covered with a 
light, woven fabric, they brought me the most 
delicious bread, honey, grapes, oranges and 
fresh pomegranates, with some kind of a deli- 
cious acid drink. 

“ When I had fully satisfied my hunger — 
and 1 was hungry — they left me, smiling 
kindly back, and by signs wishing me pleasant 
sleep. So I lay down and slept until the 
bright sun, pouring into the window of my 
chamber, awakened me. By that I knew that 
it faced the east. Hardly was I fairly wide 
awake when my attendants of the night before 
came to me and assisted me to a bath of run- 
ning water that was led through a tank cut in 
the solid rock. Thus refreshed and reclothed, 
they brought me refreshments, unleavened 
cakes, crisp and white, and tropical fruit. 
These were served upon plates of hammered 
gold. 

“After I had finished, one of the girls went 
away, carrying the remnant of the repast, and 
the other sat with me awhile, talking by signs 
and rather as a matter of companionship than 
of the curiosity that might be expected under 
the circumstances. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY 


141 


CHAPTER XVIII. 



Y and bj ray guide of the day before 


came, and his coming was announced 


by the ringing of a small bell in the ad- 
just above my head. The tone was silvery and 
clear, but there was no bell in the room. It 
was not a phantasy of my brain, either, for 
the maiden with me immediately arose, and, 
going to the silken hangings of the doorway, 
drew them aside and admitted him. 

“Coming toward me, he bowed gravely, and 
said : 

“ ‘ My brother^ let the da} 7 bring thee but 
good. I am ordered by the Elder Brother to 
show you some portions of the Temple, and to 
give you instructions thereon, and also to 
bring to your knowledge some other matters 
of importance to yourself. Will you accom- 
pany me?’ 

“‘Certainly, with the greatest pleasure,’ I 
replied. 

“So taking his courteously offered arm, we 
went forth into a great corrider running 
spirally around the outer edge of the mountain 
—inside, I should judge. Here we began a 


142 


A WITCH OF THE 


long descent. The whole had been cut out of 
the solid rock, and was as light as if the day- 
light penetrated it. But I knew no ray of 
sunlight ever entered there through the thick, 
rocky ribs of the mountain. At last we came 
to a smaller corridor running at right angles 
to the greater. This ended in a large, circular 
hall, as if one stood inside of a hemisphere. 
As we went in, it was quite dusky, but at a 
word from my guide it all lighted up; then I 
saw that the whole polished surface was a 
model of the heavens, where the motion of the 
planets in their orbits could be studied. 

“ 1 This is our hall of object teaching, where 
we can study the combination of the stars be- 
fore we verify them by the telescopes at the 
top of the Temple. xAll the motions of the 
planets are exactly imitated here, and we can 
better read and explain thus to our pupils from 
the city, than from books.’ 

u At various places about this hall were 
large alcoves. These were fitted up in the 
same way, with apparatus to illustrate the flow 
of the tides, and the movements of the waters 
to and from the sea; the formation of storms 
and tornadoes; the growth and development 
of animals and plants; the shifting of the cen- 
ters of population. Here also was illustrated 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


148 


the tidal waves of thought, by which mankind, 
while believing themselves masters, are con- 
trolled. In short, here was taught their pu- 
pils everything that can possibly concern our 
race. They did not blindly seek from varying 
effects the causes, but dealt boldly with the 
underlying principles of the universe. 

“ To me the strangest part was that I un- 
derstood all his explanations as if 1 had once 
known all about the subjects he was talking 
about, and you know T never paid any special 
attention to them while at school. At last 
he asked me to go to his own laboratory. To 
this I consented. We returned to the cor- 
ridor, and going up instead of down, finally 
came to a hexagonal-sided room on the western 
exposure of the mountain. You know we 
came up to the north side. Here on a little 
table carved of alabaster, we found a lunch 
waiting for us. My walk had given me a good 
appetite, and I did full justice to the viands. 
My host partook but sparingly. 

u He explained to me that he had been 
charged by me in a former life with the keep- 
ing of my locket, which he had returned to 
me at the earliest opportunity. Its proper- 
ties were that of an interpreter, just as the 
4 Urim and Thummim ’ of the Jews was an in- 


144 


A WITCH OF THE 


terpreter to the priests of the ancient days. 
He told me all about the Black Brotherhood, 
whom I have told you about. He said that 
Black and White both handle the same power 
— one selfishly and the other unselfishly — but 
the Black can never conquer the White when 
it comes to a direct issue, although they may 
for awhile, by the help of ignorance and fear, 
enslave a portion of mankind. 

“So we chatted all the long afternoon, un- 
til the setting sun approached the horizon. 
Then he accompanied me to my own chamber, 
and as we parted, he said: ’Take an early 
rest, for you will be called at the hour of the 
full moon. Be ready, and fear not/ 

“ Thus he left me once more in the hands of 
my fair hostesses. Having supped, they gave 
me a small confection of pleasant taste and 
fragrance. On eating it I felt strengthened 
and wonderfully reinvigorated — ready to face 
the world if need were. With this came also 
a feeling of restful harmony. They signed to 
me to rest, and, lying down, I almost imme- 
diately fell alseep. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


DO not know how long I slept,* but I 
was awakened by a light touch. Look- 



ing up I saw both my attendants 
standing by the side of my couch. Rising at 
once, I appareled myself, and when I was 
ready they threw over me an outer garment of 
white, and fitted upon the head a light head- 
dress of some white material. Thus equipped, 
we stepped out into the main corridor and 
moved up, they going one upon each side, un- 
til we came to another passageway, where my 
companion of the previous day waited my com- 
ing. Here they left me, and I went forward 
with my guide for a short distance, when we 
came to a closed door. Here a challenge and a 
reply opened the way and we entered an ante- 
room. At the farther side of this room from 
the entrance I perceived another door, which, 
at our approach, slid back noiselessly, revealing 
forty-four persons seated in the form of an 
ellipse, facing the entrance, with one vacant 
chair. The arrangement of the seating was a 
central chair and four rows, two on each side, 
of eleven each. The outer rows were elevated 


146 


A WITCH OF THE 


above the inner. All this I perceived by the 
flood of brilliant moonlight pouring in from 
an opening overhead, which, from the effect, 
must have contained optical mechanism of 
some kind. My guide conducted me to a small 
disc of glass inlaid upon the floor, and bidding 
me stand upon it, he made a sign of salutation 
to him who occupied the central seat, and then 
crossed over to the vacant seat. At a signal 
from the Elder Brother, they all stood up. 

“Then, in a steady, sonorous voice, each 
word well-chosen to mean the exact thought 
expressed, he addressed me thus: 

“‘My brother, you have been summoned 
hither to consecrate your present incarnation 
to the cause so dear to us and to you, for .this 
is our custom. That which is — not that which 
appears — is known to us of old as a brilliant 
and tireless student, and a most potent will. 
His loyalty to our order has never been for a 
moment questioned. In whatever form or 
clime he may exist, we know him for a brother. 
Lay your right hand upon the hilt of the 
physical symbol of power, your left hand upon 
your heart; repeat your name and say on after 
me.’ He paused. A sword of flame came hilt 
toward me out of the moonlight, presenting 
itself to my hand. Following his instruction. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 147 

I laid my right hand upon the hilt, my left upon 
my heart; then, word by word, pledging the best 
effort of my present life to the service of the 
Brotherhood, I slowly followed his impressive 
utterance. This was succeeded by an obliga- 
tion, that unspoken, unwhispered even, I must 
carry to the grave. 

“ Once more came the Brother’s voice to me: 

‘“We have been trustees of possessions be- 
longing to thee, waiting such time as thou 
would befit and able to claim them. Into thy 
hands we now commit them, feeling that in thy 
hands they will forward the world’s good. 
When the moon fulls again, the necessary de- 
tails for lawful possession shall be placed in 
your hands. We do not doubt your use of it. 
You will be conducted whence you came, and 
rest until you rejoin your companion.’ 

“ Here my guide came forward, and facing 
the silent ones, we retired into the ante-room, 
and thence to the place where my attendants 
waited. He bade me good-niglit, saying: k I 
will come for thee at the sixth hour to-mor- 
row.’ Then the maidens and myself retiring 
to my chamber, they tenderly assisted me to 
disrobe, and left me for the night. 

“ It was past noon when I awoke the next 
day, but my hostesses seemed to be watching, 


148 


A WITCH OF THE 


and came to me instantly. Leisurely I made 
my toilet, and then we sat together until my 
guide came for me, when, bidding them an 
affectionate farewell, I came with him to the 
outer entrance. Here he, too, said the parting 
words : 

“ ‘More than brother to me, it is not likely 
I shall see thee any more during this incarna- 
tion. Thy work lies outside of the Temple, 
that expiation may the more readily be accom- 
plished. Say farewell, and close thine eyes/ 
This I did, and, instantly opening them again. 
I found myself with you.” 

Her husband had listened with the greatest 
interest, and was about to speak, when close 
to them stood a lithe, strong man, clad in an- 
cient robes of a misty gray. Bowing, he said: 

“ The Elder Brother sends you these.” At 
the same time he presented a packet of papers to 
Elsie, and disappeared as quietly as he had come. 

Ringing for lights, on examination they 
found these papers to be a complete and per- 
fect title, duly authenticated by the proper 
authorities to Elsie, of what has since proved 
to be one of the richest gold mines in Mexico. 

They returned to Chicago in the early spring, 
where they settled permanently, deeming it the 
best center of their work. 


NINETEENTH CENTURY. 


140 


There is but little more to be told. Mr. 
Clenham lias proved himself a most capable 
business manager. Their income is used for 
the benefit of those who need. While muni- 
ficent in their donation, they are always solic- 
itous that there be no waste, and that the 
utmost service possible may be rendered with 
the means used. Schools, hospitals and the 
needy ones of earth have felt the strong im- 
pulse of their helping hands. They have no 
desire for notoriety. While a large circle of 
friends know of their kindness and generosity, 
the experiences herein recorded are not known. 
Nor would they be told now except that the 
Brotherhood have suggested it. They also 
Xiermitted the actors to withhold their iden- 
tity. and the writer only is permitted to offer 
this narrative to the public on an inviolable 
promise of secrecy as to their present names 
or address. 


THE END. 




* 



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MYSTERIES OF THE 

SPHINX AND PYRAMIDS. 


From the French.— 15 Cents. 


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this is worth more than even a careful reading. 


THREE SEVENS 


By the Phelons, Cloth, 271 pps., price $1.25. 


This book is written in explanation of the An- 
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